Clarion ignored complaints over poor repairs, council told

The resident told councillors they now avoid contacting Clarion about repairs because "it is likely to become a huge source of stress"

A resident has complained to councillors about unanswered calls and poor repairs by a housing association.

The concerns were raised about Clarion Housing Association at a Camden Council meeting attended by the London borough's biggest housing providers.

An unnamed resident said that as a result of their experiences with Clarion, they become anxious whenever anything goes wrong in their home.

Clarion has apologised for the resident's experience.

In an anonymous written presentation to the council's housing scrutiny committee, the borough resident said: "This year, having a 25-year-old boiler replaced took months to organise, and my bathroom desperately needs modernisation and possibly some adaptation.

"I try to avoid asking Clarion for anything because if I could even get them to agree to do work, the processes rarely go smoothly.

"It is likely to become a huge source of stress and unlikely to be done properly or with any care."

'Ignored complaints'

The resident, who shielded during the lockdowns because they are immunosuppressed, said that in spite of "lockdowns and high prevalence of Covid, I was still expected to give access to my home at short - or no - notice to Clarion representatives".

The problems experienced by the individual in dealing with Clarion included "missed or cancelled appointments, unreturned emails or phone calls and ignored complaints," after they were left without heating or hot water for months in 2018.

Two years later, the resident had problems with a broken toilet and complained of "numerous missed appointments and last-minute cancellations" and "dozens of unreturned phone calls and emails".

Their written statement added that the repair was later marked as complete, when in fact the toilet was still not fixed, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Nancy Jiria, Liberal Democrat councillor for Fortune Green, said the issues raised by the resident "could apply across the board", continuing that residents can feel "let down" in their relationships with landlords.

Bloomsbury ward councillor Adam Harrison said: "I have had a huge number of complaints from Clarion tenants."

'Sorry about concerns'

Responding to general questions from councillors, Clarion's head of housing Andrew Nowakowski said the association aimed to respond rapidly to calls and emails and that it was not "fair to say complaints regularly go unanswered".

He told councillors that Clarion had changed its repairs and maintenance service, and out of 256 disrepair claims in north London just 10% were in Camden.

A Clarion spokesperson said: "We are sorry to hear of our resident's concerns and want to apologise to anyone who feels our service fell short during the pandemic.

"We worked hard to ensure a continuity of service during the Covid-19 lockdown periods and all our staff were given clear guidance on safe ways of working, and the appropriate PPE."

She added: "Repairs appointments are agreed in advance with the resident with the exception of emergency appointments, which are attended to within 24 hours.

"There was a backlog after the lockdowns, but we've made good progress since and are investing significantly in our social homes, both through planned investment and fire safety work."

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