In a recent article, the Guardian reported that the United Nations have written a letter of concern to the UK government. They critiqued one of the country’s largest Housing Associations, London and Quadrant (L&Q), of systematic failure of disabled tenant, Sanjay Ramburn.
For several years, Mr Ramburn was left with no electricity, and his ceiling collapsed four times. There was also severe damp and mould within the dwelling.
Intervention from the UN is no small matter. It is an international organisation comprising 193 member states, founded after World War 2 largely to prevent human rights abuses . It promotes peace, security and cooperation among nations around the globe.
In their Adequate housing for all report in 2024, the UN stated that “adequate housing is a fundamental right and a cornerstone of adequate living”. For L&Q to be singled out, their housing conditions must be extremely poor.
L&Q provide 105,000 homes for around 250,000 people, primarily across London. This makes them one of the UK’s biggest Housing Associations. Their website cites their vision, “that everyone deserves a quality home that gives them the chance to live a better life”. After critiques from the UN, does the reality of the housing provided by L&Q meet their visions of their service? In short; certainly not.
A brief timeline of L&Q’s failures
There is a plethora of mainstream media articles outlining poor service from L&Q. As a non-exhaustive sample of this, we easily found the following:
- 15.03.2022: The Housing Ombudsman reported on L&Q’s “severe maladministration” in failing to mitigate for the needs of a vulnerable tenant who needed a temporary decant.
- 01.02.2023: The Guardian reported on the poor service provided by L&Q, leading to vulnerable long-term tenants being subjected to 15 months of chaotic rehousing.
- 27.07.2023: The Guardian report on further findings by the Housing Ombudsman, citing more instances of severe maladministration from L&Q.
- 20.05.2025: The Daily Express reported about an army veteran and tenant of L&Q, who had gone months through the winter without access to heating or hot water.
- 23.09.2025: The Guardian further reported that L&Q had more severe maladministration findings of any social housing provider in the country, with 77 in 2024/25 alone.
This is only a small sample of the continued failures of L&Q as a landlord. An organisation the size of the UN simply would not need to get involved if it were not a dire, ongoing issue.
Our experience with L&Q
At Pabla + Pabla, we can draw upon our own direct experience of L&Q to suggest further concerns about their service delivery. As a firm that deals with Housing Disrepair claims for social tenants, we have had several dealings with them in the past.
In May 2023, tenant Ms J had no access to heating. As a result, mould had grown throughout the dwelling. After we represented her in a Housing Disrepair claim, L&Q paid £4,000 in compensation to the tenant, alongside completing the works.
In January 2024, tenant Mr R had grown frustrated after defective windows in his room were left unaddressed. L&Q paid £1,614 in damages and completed repairs on the windows as they should have done before.
In August 2024, tenant Mr A approached us after L&Qd had failed to address an ongoing leak. Having complained about the leak for four years, his landlord agreed to pay £1,356.30 in compensation, and fix the ongoing leak.
This is a small sample size of the claims brought against L&Q in the last two or three years, just from our relatively small firm.
Although L&Q, as a Housing Association, are not subject until FOIA requests until 2027, there is no doubt that they are receiving hundreds, potentially thousands of claims from private solicitors each year. This does not include actions enforced by the Housing Ombudsman and local authorities.
Although we wish this was a one-off example of poor landlord practice, L&Q are not the only big social housing provider to have failed their tenants on an institutional level.
At Pabla + Pabla, we support the UN’s message of landlords keeping homes in adequate conditions. Adequate housing, after all, is a globally recognised human right. We are committed to supporting tenants seeking justice for their ongoing Housing Disrepair issues.
Prior to publication of this article, London & Quadrant were approached for comment. They have not responded.
