Yesterday’s (27th March) meeting of Haringey full council saw Labour councillors reject a proposed Liberal Democrat scheme which would have compensated council tenants and leaseholders for poorly done or late repairs.
The repairs service in Haringey has come under scrutiny due to a litany of failings, including an open investigation from the Housing Ombudsman after ‘persistent poor performance over damp and mould complaints’[1] and a notice from the Social Housing Regulator concluding that the council’s failure to complete outstanding fire safety actions had caused the potential for ‘serious detriment’ to tenants[2].
The Liberal Democrat motion would have formally apologised to council tenants who were left at risk by the council’s failures; obligated the council to write to all tenants asking them to report any necessary or outstanding repairs; and introduced a service level agreement, which would have included an automatic compensation scheme for late or inadequate repairs.
Opposition Spokesperson for Housing, Cllr Dawn Barnes (LD-Fortis Green), said:
“It is a disgrace that in 2023 almost a third of Haringey’s housing stock doesn’t meet the government’s ‘decent homes standard’, yet Labour councillors have chosen to pretend that their decades of failure can be sorted with a few cosmetic changes. It is only when the council is forced to compensate tenants and leaseholders financially for shoddy or late work that the repairs service will begin to change for the better.”
Labour-run Haringey Council has been slammed by the UK’s housing watchdog (ombudsman) for a “culture of apathy and acceptance of poor practice” in its dealings with council tenants and leaseholders.