In his latest summary of lessons from severe maladministration reports, Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, has urged landlords to see the person behind the repair.  He points out that, with Awaab’s Law, there will be a greater focus on connecting the household’s circumstances to the condition of the property. This will make for more person-focused repairs services. 

Among the cases described is a domestic abuse survivor who lived with a faulty entry door for 9 months and another survivor who reported anxiety about being unable to lock a door. In other cases, a ceiling collapsed on a child’s bed while they were asleep, another child was exposed to live electrical cables, and another hurt themselves on uneven flooring after repairs took 18 months. A resident with disabilities had no functioning shower in his wet room for 12 months and a child with additional needs had to use a broken toilet for 5 months. As Richard Blakeway says, this shows the human impact behind the increase of cases being brought to the Housing Ombudsman service.