Town Hall risked contempt of court in legal disrepair case, says judge

Mr Justice Rajah said council took a ‘leisurely’ approach to the disrepair case at the court hearing last month. Image: courtesy Judicial Office / free for use by LDRS partners
Hackney Council has apologised “wholeheartedly” after missing a legal deadline to carry out maintenance works, despite a judge warning that doing so risked contempt of court.
The Town Hall was accused last month of taking a “leisurely approach” in a legal disrepair case, resulting in a “mad scramble” to get a leaseholder’s application heard at the High Court on 30 May.
The judge, Mr Justice Rajah, said that Hackney leaseholder Thomas Leveritt had been left with the unfinished works despite a district judge having ordered the council to complete these by 31 May, Local Government Lawyer reported last week.
Mr Leveritt accused the local authority of “weaponising their incompetence” after failing to finish the jobs within that time, and then asking the court for an extension.
The judge refused this request.
“It seems to me that there has been a very leisurely approach in circumstances where there was a fast-approaching deadline,” said Justice Rajah.
“The result of that has been a mad scramble to get this application heard today.
“If what Mr Leveritt says about the council’s inaction is correct, I agree.”
Mr Justice Rajah said he had seen Hackney’s evidence and “rapidly reached point six without any evidence that anything had actually been done since the order”.
On 14 March, a district judge imposed a court order with a penal notice, specifically stating that the borough’s chief executive, Dawn Carter-McDonald, would be in contempt if the ruling was not complied with.
Contempt of court punishable by a fine, confiscation of assets, and other legal sanctions including imprisonment – though this is rare for public bodies like councils.
Speaking to the Citizen, Hackney’s strategic director of housing services, Steve Waddington, said: “We are sorry it has taken us as long as it has to complete this work.
“It has taken longer than we originally expected as extra work needed was identified once work had already started.”
“We apologise wholeheartedly to the resident for the distress and inconvenience this will have caused.”
Mr Waddington said the council acknowledged court’s ruling and confirmed the outstanding work from the 31 May deadline was completed on 5 and 9 June.
“The remaining work will be completed by 30 June, in accordance with the court order.”
The Citizen asked the council what message this compliance failure sent regarding the Town Hall’s culture towards both disrepair and its legal obligations.
The council’s response did not address this question.
Last week, the social housing ombudsman described the local authority as an “outlier” compared to other landlords and housing providers when it came to its failures over repairs and maintenance.
It Is not surprising that this council is in contempt of court, it has been in contempt of the residents for years.