Housing Ombudsman urges landlords to proactively tackle hate crime and anti-social behaviour

The Housing Ombudsman has highlighted “repeatedly similar failings” in how social landlords deal with antisocial behaviour (ASB) and hate crime. 

In his latest ‘learning from severe maladministration’ report, Richard Blakeway urges social landlords to take a more proactive and record-driven approach to handling hate incidents and noise, and to better understand the relationship between ASB and repairs.

Cases highlighted include a failure by Hackney Council to “deal effectively” with allegations of racial-specific graffiti, with a failure to pass information on. The local authority has said it has learned from and “reviewed its policies and procedures” to speed up the sharing of information.

The Ombudsman also highlighted “a series of errors” in a case of harassment by a neighbour who subjected disabled Yorkshire Housing residents to name-calling, drug use and intimidation. The landlord says it has responded to this by setting up a new customer guide, improving its communication, and setting up risk assessments and audits.

The report also found that L&Q “failed to take a multi-agency approach” in a case involving non-residents using drugs and setting fires in communal areas. It also said the landlord failed to repair a communal door which would have prevented access to non-residents. L&Q responded by setting up ”a new harm-centred approach” and made changes to its complaints handling and record keeping.

Blakeway said: “This report asks why we repeatedly see similar failings. It provides an opportunity for landlords to reflect on the fundamentals of ASB: what is their role, how to manage expectations, and where to work with others.  

“It offers three questions for landlords to consider. What do hate incidents mean for social landlords? How to coordinate repairs and ASB handling more effectively? And what does good complaint handling look like in an ASB case?”

>> See also: Housing Ombudsman urges social landlords to ‘renew and improve’ relationships with leaseholders 

>> See also: Poor communications from housing associations ‘compounding’ maintenance failures, says Ombudsman

>> See also: Ombudsman calls for national tenant body after surge in repairs complaints

The report found that landlord Peabody had failed to put in place an ASB action plan for a year, despite a resident raising concerns about the safety of her family following the arrest of a neighbour who was charged with criminal offences and later breached bail. Peabody said it has improved complaint handling processes and record keeping, and expanded support for vulnerable residents.

A Luton Council resident who made 115 recordings of noise ASB over nine months but was met by “limited and late responses by their landlord”, said their life had been made “a living hell” by neighbours. Luton said it had invested in staff training and had brought in independent external support to work with its Tenant Partnership Board on a new ASB policy.

Indeed, noise and its impact was highlighted throughout the report, with two residents reporting suicidal thoughts to landlords as a result of continued exposure to noise.

Another resident, whose windows were smashed by a brick being thrown through them, waited 14 months before Sanctuary repaired them. Moreover, it took the landlord 75 working days to contact the resident. The same resident was later attacked in his home, and police referred the case to the landlord to move him, but it took Sanctuary a further 47 days to contact him “despite the safety implications for not doing so”. Santuary has responded by revising its ASB policies, extra training for staff and updated record-keeping.

The Guinness Partnership was found to have taken 22 months to repair doors that could have reduced noise for residents. The landlord says it has created new policies and training programmes in response.

Blakeway found there had been “significant improvement” in complaint handling by landlords, but that “in many cases” the complaints team were “too passive” and “didn’t respond to evidence” presented to them by tenants. He also stressed the needs for landlords to adopt “action plans” to tackle recurring issues.

The Ombudsman warned that complaints teams don’t proactively undertake better communication, make risk assessments following complaints, or respond appropriately to evidence and documentation – and that as a result “patterns are often missed”.

He highlighted the “rise in vulnerabilities and mental health needs” of those in social housing, and said the skills required by landlords to handle “incredibly complex cases” has gone up. 

Blakeway also raised the “uniqueness of the social landlords’ role” in having to work with networks and agencies, including police, local authority and health agencies, as well as having to respond to ASB from non-residents, and changes in government policy.

He praised the sector’s “openness around learning lessons and absence of defensiveness”, said they found “fewer service failings in ASB cases than in other areas,” adding that “given the challenges and individual nature of each case, this is a considerable achievement”.

First appointed to the role in September 2019, Blakeway has overseen the introduction of new powers under the Social Housing Regulation Act. Last week, the government confirmed his tenure in the role will be extended until at least July next year.