A Hackney leaseholder alleges the council has breached a court-ordered deadline to complete works on his property in a long-running legal disrepair case
The chief executive of an East London council is facing an allegation of contempt of court in an ongoing dispute between the local authority and a leaseholder over maintenance works.
Hackney Council’s Chief Executive Dawn Carter-McDonald was in court on Wednesday (October 22) after resident Thomas Leveritt filed a contempt application against her which alleged she had failed to comply with an earlier court order to complete repairs to his flat.
In March this year a district judge warned the chief executive – as the person ultimately responsible for making sure the council complies with a legal injunction – would be in contempt if the works for Mr Leveritt’s flat were not finished by May 31.
The council missed this deadline after it had asked a High Court judge for an extension to the court order, which was refused. Mr Justice Rajah said the council had taken a “leisurely approach” to the disrepair case, resulting in a “mad scramble” to get the leaseholder’s application heard at the court on May 30. The judge then passed the case back to Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court.
Contempt of court is punishable by a fine – as set by the court – confiscation of assets, and other legal sanctions including up to two years imprisonment, though this is rare for public bodies like councils.
In June, Hackney’s then-strategic director of housing services, Steve Waddington, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) the council was sorry for the delay, and said the works had taken longer than originally expected after discovering more needed to be done once the job was under way.
Mr Waddington later said the works were completed by the end of June.
However, in August Mr Leveritt filed a subsequent application for contempt, arguing the council had still not finished the repairs on his flat. The council’s legal team disputes this and maintains that it has in fact finished all the work ordered by the court.
Hackney’s chief executive was ordered to turn up to the county court on Wednesday, where a district judge adjourned the hearing to case management for future directions.
Judge Redpath-Stevens did not rule on whether Ms Carter-McDonald was in contempt. While Mr Leveritt must be “beyond frustration”, he did not think “at first blush” the council’s conduct warranted a fine or imprisonment – though adding he had not had benefit of time to read through the case.
The judge said there was a “moral imperative” for both sides to find a way forward outside the courtroom.
“Gallingly, this is public money,” he said, and warned there was a risk social housing tenants could see their rents go up if the council continued to dip into its housing revenue account (HRA) to pay its legal costs for this case.
During the hearing the judge also said local authorities had “a habit of being overenthusiastic about how fast they can do things,” adding that “the left hand generally doesn’t know what the right is doing”.
The LDRS contacted Clerkenwell and Shoreditch County Court for more information on the case’s next hearing. Hackney Council told the LDRS it could not comment on active legal proceedings.
Between 2024 and 2025, The Town Hall spent £4.6m on legal costs and compensation for housing disrepair.
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