Hundreds of incorrect asbestos records found at housing association

One Housing did not assess the condition of the asbestos and could not prove that it considered temporarily moving the family.

After the Ombudsman ordered a review of the landlord’s policies in early 2024, One Housing found more than 800 records of incorrect data on its asbestos register.

Despite not having asbestos data on several properties where the substance could be present, the risk-scoring system showed the dwellings as no-risk.

Other properties where old data had not been removed showed as high-risk, although that was no longer the case.

The review found the inconsistencies in One Housing’s data were due to multiple factors, including external services being brought in-house and its knowledge and information management.

For example, new information had been added without existing records being updated when moving to a new system.

The Housing Ombudsman said One Housing had now improved its asbestos record keeping and services, including undertaking a review of its asbestos safety management plan.

An operational guidance document has also been produced and two administrative posts created to maintain its asbestos databases and cleansing of One Housing’s records.

Housing ombudsman, Richard Blakeway, said: “The ceiling collapse caused the resident considerable distress as she worried about her family’s safety given the potential asbestos risk. The landlord failed to recognise this or learn lessons about how it handled events.

“This was a significant missed opportunity as the wider review following our investigation reveals the problems with its records on asbestos were not isolated. This shows the power of learning even from just one complaint.

“It also underscores the importance of knowledge and information management, which is so often the foundation to an effective service or complaint response.”

In its ‘learning statement’, One Housing said: “Riverside merged with One Housing in April 2023 and since then Riverside has implemented their systems and processes in relation to asbestos management.

“We are very sorry for the distress caused to our customer following a leak and a collapsed ceiling and for the repair handling, asbestos record keeping and complaint handling.

“In this case, we undertook a detailed investigation and a lessons learnt review. We revisited it six months later to make sure the key learning points were being implemented.”