Camden Council is to be investigated over how it deals with mould, housing repairs and complaints.

The Housing Ombudsman has launched special reports into Camden Council after casework showed all it struggles with damp and mould, repairs, and complaint handling.

The report will make recommendations that the Ombudsman will use to help drive service improvements and deliver effective social housing for residents, it says on its website.

All landlords investigated have either high maladministration rates or increasing findings in these areas, including several findings of severe maladministration.

Housing Ombudsman Richard Blakeway said complaints are an "essential tool" for landlords to learn and improve, but he has concerns about how some councils have handled them and will be investigating further.

He said: “Safe and secure social housing has never been more important and the learning from these reports will help strengthen the landlords approach to important areas and improve outcomes for residents.

“We will work with the landlord after the reports to ensure the recommendations are embedded and that change is reflected in the complaints that do or do not come to us.”

Cllr Tom Simon, leader of Camden's Liberal Democrats, said: "We've been talking about problems with the repair service for a very long time.

"The Labour administrations every now and then relaunch it and rebrand it and claim it's all going to be great from now on and so far it hasn't been.

"So we're not surprised to see that the Ombudsman is interested in this area and we'll look out very closely.

"The council says it has been doing all these things to improve the service so it's a good test to see if this is a PR test or something more substantial."

Cllr Meric Apak, Camden's lead member for better homes, said he wanted all tenants to live in safe, dry and warm homes.

He said "years of underfunding from government" had stretched and overwhelmed resources. "However, we have not shied away," he added.

"Last year we established a dedicated damp and mould team that has worked on over 6,000 homes – making emergency visits and fixing problems.

"We are now reaching out again to our most vulnerable tenants."

He acknowledged there is "more work to be done", adding: "Our commitment to our residents is to continue working with urgency and determination to deliver the high standard of housing that they deserve."