Double maladminstration for social landlord after tenant left with dead rats and maggots falling from ceiling

Just last week, the ombudsman made a finding of severe maladministration for Clarion after it left a disabled tenant without a toilet. 

Mr Blakeway had urged the 125,000-home landlord to show “empathy”. 

The Longhurst tenant first reported rats in his attic in September 2020.

When the pest control contractor attended the property, they placed four trays of bait and noted that the rats would need to be removed, and the loft insulation, roof tiles and guttering would need to be replaced.

But nearly three weeks later the decomposing rats still had not been removed and the tenant reported maggots dropping from the kitchen ceiling.

A deep clean of the kitchen was ordered for the next day, but no one came. 

It took nine days for the landlord to remove the dead rats, despite the issue being the most dangerous – category one – hazard. 

It took months for the other repairs to be done. 

When the loft insulation works finally started, a contractor fell ill and works were only partially completed. 

The resident then made a formal complaint, adding in repairs that were needed for the wet room, kitchen and roof.

After some repairs, the resident reported ongoing issues, such as increasing damp and mould in the kitchen and bedroom, sewage in the garden, and that the kitchen ceiling was close to collapse. 

Shortly after, the rats were back, six months after the resident had first reported the problem.

Longhurst took action to fix these issues, including treating the mould and doing work to the roof. 

It also committed to organise a repair to the wet room.

However, the resident reported that the damp-proofing had failed. He had been told the heating pipes were too small and the boiler was outdated. 

He said the wet room smelt “horrible”, as the drain blocked each time he used it; the wet room floor was “lifting” and there was mould on the walls; a beam had collapsed in the roof; and the kitchen needed a new ceiling as well as kitchen units.

Two years after his first complaint, the tenant said repairs to the roof and the wet room renewal were still outstanding. 

He expressed concerns about the renewal, given his disability and the difficulty of living without a proper toilet for a period while this work took place.

The ombudsman also found severe maladministration for Longhurst’s complaint-handling. 

The landlord failed to issue a stage-one complaint response, because it was waiting for the repairs to be done.

As a result, it took almost eight months to issue a response.

The ombudsman ordered Longhurst to apologise and pay the resident £2,300 in compensation, review its compensation policy, and undertake the necessary works and action in relation to the wet room.

Mr Blakeway said: “It is deeply concerning that a vulnerable resident lived with a category-one hazard for some 18 months without the matter being resolved.

“There were lengthy delays by the landlord in carrying out many repairs at the property.

“While the landlord investigated and undertook to take action in relation to the roof, damp and mould and wet room, these matters are still outstanding. 

“All this had a seriously detrimental effect on a vulnerable resident.”

He added that he welcomed Longhurst’s response and urged other social landlords to “consider the learning the case offers for their own services”. 

In a statement, Longhurst Group, which manages more than 24,000 homes across the Midlands and East of England, said: “Firstly, we’d like to publicly apologise to our customer for the experience they received.  

“We’ve apologised in person and taken steps to make amends, including paying compensation and ensuring they’re happy that repairs have been completed to a high standard.

“We acknowledge we made mistakes and took far too long to resolve the issues reported to us. 

“We didn’t communicate well with our customer or deal with their complaint properly and we failed to hold our contractors to account strongly enough.

“With more care and attention, the frustration and distress our customer experienced could’ve been avoided, and we take full responsibility for these failings.”

It said that staff were “individually” committed to fixing the issues facing the tenant. 

“But collectively, due to poor communication between teams and with our contractors, we didn’t respond as we should’ve,” it said. 

Longhurst has since invested in additional resources, restructured resident-facing teams and improved staff training. 

It also appointed new repairs contractors and changed processes to manage their performance better.

It said: “We need to get better, and we will, but we also acknowledge that all the improvements we need to make won’t happen overnight. 

“We’re continuing to deal with a backlog of repairs that built up during the pandemic and as we transitioned to new contractors, and still have a high number of complaints to resolve.

“We completely accept the severe maladministration finding, and we’re determined to learn from the mistakes we’ve made.”