A special investigation into Hackney Council’s landlord services - it’s repairs and building management - identified failures across repairs, confirming what residents and Green councillors have been saying.  

The report also brought to light systemic bad practice around the reporting of repairs, with the systems incentivising marking jobs as complete, leading to 33% of visits for repairs being repeats. 

This comes following the resignation of the councils housing chief, Cllr Clayeon McKenzie, just a few weeks ago following pressure from the Greens on the council for him step down. 

Reacting to the report, Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock said: “For years, we were told things were improving - that satisfaction was rising, systems were being upgraded, and lessons were being learned. 

“This report exposes that as fiction.

"What we had was a broken system, papered over with a misleading ‘positivity prism’, also known as gaslighting.”

The investigation was conducted due to levels of serve maladministration findings in casework, with poor practice found in 79% of complaints.  

The council has responded to the report, apologising to its tenants. 

New cabinet member of Housing Management and Regeneration Cllr Guy Nicholson said: “The Council acknowledges the Housing Ombudsman’s assessment that tenants have not received the service they should be receiving from the Council. 

On behalf of the Council I apologise for this shortfall and reassure both tenants and the Housing Ombudsman that Hackney Council is fully committed to improving the service it provides as a landlord to the homes it has responsibility for.” 

You can read the full statement by Green Councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock below: 

The Housing Ombudsman’s report is a brutal indictment of Hackney Labour’s housing failure. It confirms what so many residents have lived through: damp, unsafe homes, ignored complaints, and a council more focused on spin than fixing the basics.

For years, we were told things were improving - that satisfaction was rising, systems were being upgraded, and lessons were being learned. This report exposes that as fiction. What we had was a broken system, papered over with a misleading ‘positivity prism’, also known as gaslighting.

The sad reality is that any councillor doing serious housing casework hears these stories constantly. We see it with our own eyes: Hackney’s housing service is broken.

I’m deeply concerned about the administration’s ability to turn this around, especially with more cuts to council spending looming and the Housing Revenue Account in crisis. The council still lacks a working Housing Management System.

The cabinet member for housing repairs resigned days before this report dropped. That is no coincidence, but the failures go far beyond one individual. The Mayor must take responsibility. In her 2023 by-election manifesto, she promised 'safe, warm and well-maintained homes with a high-quality service from the Council'. She has failed to deliver on that promise. It should not have taken an Ombudsman report for the council to admit the scale of the crisis - or to show any remorse.

The Hackney Green Group will keep standing with tenants and pushing for real change in the service. Everyone in Hackney deserves a safe home.