Housing association did not repair damaged harling for over six months

A housing association failed to fix a tenant’s damaged roughcast cladding more than six months after an inspection revealed that repairs were required.

The River Clyde Homes tenant was concerned about the condition of the roughcast render, also known as harling, at their property after some had fallen.

An inspection revealed that repairs were needed.

The tenant complained that, over six months later, no work had been undertaken, and more roughcast render had fallen from the property.

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) received the complaint about the River Clyde Homes association, which owns and manages over 5,800 homes and provides factoring services to a further 2,200 homes in the Inverclyde area.

The complaint was upheld on all counts.

The watchdog found “no evidence” of a proper assessment of the scale of the required repairs until approximately five months after the need for repairs was confirmed.

It also found no evidence of the association taking action to appoint a contractor until more than six weeks after their stage two complaint response to the tenant.

The SPSO said: “The association did not assess the urgency of the required works, nor did it consider how failing to undertake them had impacted, or could impact, [the tenant’s] living conditions. There was also no evidence of structured or consistent action being taken to progress the matter.”

The housing association was ordered to apologise to the tenant and ensure that all repairs are completed within a reasonable timescale.

A River Clyde Homes spokesperson said: “River Clyde Homes understands that the service experienced by our customer on this occasion fell below the standards we expect.

“River Clyde Homes accepts the SPSO decision and has undertaken all outstanding repairs to fully resolve this matter. We have also undertaken a robust internal review to improve service delivery.”