Why Haringey Council housing repairs service is broken

Council tenants and leaseholders are regularly being left in homes that are badly maintained, and sometimes even dangerous. That’s why opposition Liberal Democrat councillors like me are pushing for drastic change.

Earlier this year, the Labour councillor in charge of housing services admitted that Haringey has been “letting residents down over many years” with its failing repairs service - but despite claiming they have acted to change things, residents are still telling us that the service is as bad as ever.

Earlier this year, we heard from two different watchdog organisations that Labour is overseeing a “culture of apathy and acceptance of poor practice”, that the council has failed to complete thousands of high-risk fire safety actions, and has poor performance in dealing with damp and mould.

That’s why we called a full council debate a couple of weeks ago, where we listened to residents’ experiences of the service, pushing for the council to do more.

Cllr Dawn Butler is pushing for the council to improve its housing repair service (Image: Haringey Council)

Lib Dems are asking for repairs to be done more quickly and to a good standard; for communication to significantly improve; and for residents who receive poor service to receive compensation.

We were extremely disappointed with the Labour administration’s response to the debate. We thought it was a good opportunity for all councillors to highlight what wasn’t working, and begin to start changing the culture - which consistently prioritises the council’s bottom line over solving residents’ problems - in the housing department.

Instead, our concerns were met with a disappointing lack of engagement, understanding and empathy.

Labour councillors stood to speak about the new homes the council is building – welcome, of course, but of no help to those residents who already have council homes and are being failed by Haringey’s neglect.

I was particularly disappointed with the response of the cabinet member, who seems to feel that her sole job is to stand up for officers, while disregarding residents. I cannot agree with her. It is her job, and the job of all councillors, to champion our tenants and leaseholders, who are being failed by the housing department.

I and my Lib Dem colleagues will continue pressing for improvements, but in the meantime, if you are a council tenant or leaseholder, and you need a repair to your home, please contact the council directly at: myaccount.haringey.gov.uk/service/Request_housing_repair or email Lib Dem councillors at: contact@haringeylibdems.org so we can raise the issue for you.

• Cllr Dawn Barnes is deputy Leader of the Opposition and spokesperson for housing and regeneration at Haringey Council.