Watchdog identifies safety issues after landlord’s ‘living roof’ comes apart

Living roofs are covered with vegetation planted over a waterproofing membrane for insulation and aesthetic purposes. They are also intended to absorb rainwater and create a habitat for wildlife.

In 2022, a resident of the Swanage scheme complained that their roof was failing because of storm damage. The roof was not letting in water, but the planting was becoming detached.

The wider review covered four schemes with living roofs owned by Aster, including flats, bungalows, detached houses and sheltered accommodation.

It found that there were no issues with the ‘living’ elements of roofs at any other Aster schemes. However, at the Swanage scheme, which comprises five detached houses, “all roofs appear to be failing to different degrees”.

The Roman Barns development was completed in 2012 and transferred to Aster with a long lease.

According to the report, the roofs are pitched and “in an extremely exposed position” facing the sea. This combination of pitched roofs and the exposed coastal location made Roman Barns particularly vulnerable to the weather.

It also found that there was “little understanding/experience of repairing living roofs” within Aster’s repairs service. Finding a suitable contractor “proved challenging” and the contractor selected was not a living roof specialist.

Following a visit three months later, the contractor stated that the green roof was “beyond their scope”. A specialist provider was eventually found by the repairs team, which produced a report in August 2022 suggesting that the roof needed replacing.

The review found several areas needing improvement. It recommended that Aster ensures the inclusion of qualified living roof specialists on the approved supplier list; strengthens handover processes; enhances staff training; and implements a “robust system” for communication and follow-up with residents around repair requests.

It did recognise that Aster was trying to make positive changes. It said: “While the structure of Aster’s complaint-handling is strong, its execution is slow and inefficient, causing dissatisfaction among residents.”

Within 16 weeks of this latest report, Aster must set out its learnings from the review and how it intends to prevent similar failings, list the number of other residents who have experienced similar issues and formulate a policy for repairs and maintenance of living roofs.

Richard Blakeway, the housing ombudsman, said: “This review reveals the proactive and positive steps Aster is undertaking in response to our wider order.

“It also creates wider learning opportunities for landlords who are looking to bring residents on the journey to create zero-carbon new homes.”

He added: “By embracing insights from all complaints, landlords can effectively utilise resident feedback to not only rectify specific issues but also to enhance overall service delivery.”

Aster’s learning statement read: “We are very sorry for letting our customer down by not delivering the high standard of service we aim for.

“We have contacted our customer to apologise and have paid compensation. A full replacement of the living roof was completed in summer 2024.

“We accept introducing the service charge for the fall arrest system wasn’t managed in the correct or best way, and that we failed to seek the appropriate legal advice at the correct time which could have resolved the issue earlier.

“We also accept we didn’t communicate well with our customer about the maintenance and repairs to the living roof.”

The landlord said it has now carried out a full review of these types of roofs, amended its policy and procedure for maintenance and repairs, and reviewed its supply chain arrangements for living roofs.

Aster added: “We have also developed new complaint training with a focus on the importance of good proactive communication.”