A North London resident has been left waiting for more than two years for repairs to be carried out at his temporary accommodation, including a hole in the kitchen wall that they claim is “the entry point for cockroaches”.
Harrow Council has apologised and paid the tenant £300 for the “distress” caused by the delays in tackling the issues, following an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). The local authority said it “fell short” of the standards residents should expect to receive.
The Ombudsman found the council was at fault for failing to carry out the repair works in a “reasonable timeframe” or keeping the resident updated. The man, referred to in the report as Mr D, first reported issues with the water supply, a broken fence, an insecure front door, and a hole in the kitchen, in 2023 – some of which are still outstanding.
Mr D was visited by an Accommodation Officer in June 2023 after complaining about the issues to the council. Despite making two requests for evidence of how the repairs were handled, the LGO stated that they only received “minimal documentation” which made it “impossible to say with any certainty” whether some repairs were carried out.
One of which was a hole in the kitchen from when a boiler had been removed. Mr D claimed this was the entry point for the cockroaches he had reported to the council on a previous occasion. Pest control subsequently carried out treatment in the property, which the council said had worked and activity had been “significantly reduced” but the kitchen hole remained as of February 2025, according to the report..
Mr D also raised an issue with the water supply in April 2024. The council carried out a site visit in July but the Ombudsman said they have no record of whether the issue was actually discussed. The report states: “When I asked the council about this it initially told me Mr D had not reported the water supply problem before 2025.
“I advised the council that [this] was incorrect and asked it to provide advice and, if appropriate, assistance to Mr D when it visited this year. As set out above, that visit has not taken place in the timeframe I would expect. I have no evidence that any advice has been given to Mr D on this point for over 12 months.”
The council claimed that delays to the fence repairs were caused by a problem with the insurers, according to the report, but the LGO saw “no supporting evidence” of this and no record of the local authority informing Mr D about the timeframe. It ultimately took eight months before the fence was fixed.
The Ombudsman also couldn’t find any evidence of Mr D reporting the insecure door to the council but requested that it be checked and “expected it to visit the property in March”. The report adds: “That did not happen and a visit to check what repairs are needed remains outstanding.”
A Harrow Council spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of the LGO and have apologised for the distress caused to Mr D due to delays in processing their application. While we work hard to ensure the expectations of our customers, unfortunately on this occasion we fell short of the standards that residents should expect to receive. It is unacceptable that on several occasions they were not able to contact an officer.”
They added: “We have since reviewed our processes and training for staff to ensure this never happens again. We remain committed to fulfilling our duties to prevent homelessness, especially when residents are facing challenging circumstances. We are in contact with Mr D to ensure their case is handled with care and urgency and hope to resolve the issues soon.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
