Hackney Live Reviews 21

H — Habitually leaving you in the dark — literally (tenant left using candles after electricity failure — Housing Ombudsman 2025)
A — Acknowledging nothing, apologising for everything (their own "positivity prism" overstating improvements — Housing Ombudsman 2025)
C — Collecting your rent while your home falls apart (83% maladministration rate — Housing Ombudsman annual report 2024)
K — Keeping records so badly they lost your complaints ("little structure, procedure, systems or data" — Housing Ombudsman 2025)
N — Never fixing the root cause, ever ("multiple missed opportunities to identify root causes" — Housing Ombudsman 2025)
E — Experts only at generating more complaints (560% increase in stage 2 complaints — Hackney internal review)
Y — Years of promises, zero actual repairs (improvement plan targets missed repeatedly — Housing Today 2025)

What a complete crap hole you cannot drive anywhere in Hackney it is completely stand still traffic. No through routes let alone nothing of note to see. The council are a joke roads are terrible just avoid the area

I was very disappointed with the conduct of a council tax employee named Patricia. Her manner was distinctly unprofessional, unfriendly, and lacking in basic courtesy. Throughout the call, she appeared irritated and unwilling to assist, which made the experience unnecessarily unpleasant.

The council should ensure that its staff receive proper training in communication, professionalism, and customer service — or employ individuals who already demonstrate these essential qualities when dealing with the public.

Sadly, Hackney Borough seems to provide little or no support for those living with dementia and their carers. I appreciate councils are stretched. However the Borough seems to employ social care staff whose job it is to say no and offer little to vulnerable older people and their carers. Nothing on offer to ease the burden.

It's one disgrace they don't do anything for anybody they don't answer anything i'm disabled they put me down that I don't need adult social care didn't even have the interview they didn't even phone me i complained and complained so much 22 council they wasn't interested i went to a solicitor took my case on straight away just shows you there's no point dealing hackney council have you seen the ombus report regarding the council i think you should see it the council lies over improvements the council is failing everybody can you believe I applied for riverside social housing they made me wait six months to tell me they lost my forms people then she told me to do it again i'm not prepared to wait another six month for an answer to her you're not getting anything from the council. It's a fdisgrace

Don't even waste your time,all services are curropt, service charges being paid but no service,worst ever council,, lazy

Hackney PCN scam is a money maker for Hackney.
The roads around Hackney are setup to make money from residents and visitors from Pcn charges. Its like driving in Mario cart game, pcn traps everywhere. Its put me off visiting Hackney, I will avoid that area like the plague. Safer and cheaper to drive around Hackney, even if it does take longer. They should be ashamed of the amount of negative reviews they've received, they're a disgrace!

Most disgusting council ever I worked

I've worked for them, now left. 3 months chasing up about my local government pension after leaving and getting nowhere. Outsourcing pension dept, limited staff, phone calls not being answered and luck of the draw if someone will help you. Terrible.

Hackney Council is nothing but a money pinching council. Parked in what was stated as a disabled bay sent Hackney council all the evidence and they still pinched £65.00 from me whilst I am a registered carer for my mother and the fact that they have ignore my evidence and their actual bays contradict itself to me this is how councils make easy money. There is no consideration and the reply from D Gardner was so regimental with no empathy and no reply to my evidence and why can't you appeal for a second time? You pay no attention to my appeal sent and your bays around the borough are not clear enough and even showing evidence of your permit bay having a sign underneath stating Blue Badge holders permitted Hackney Council complete ignore this evidence. HACKNEY COUNCIL (D GARDNER ARE A MONEY PINCHING COUNCIL THAT CONTRADICT WHEN IT COMES TO PARKING AND WHO DISCRIMINATE PEOPLE LIKE MYSELF.

Scammers. Cancelled my 1 year parking permit with no warning and gave me a parking ticket 30 mins later. Managed to get a new permit 45 mins later when I saw the email but they had already given me a ticket which they will not let me appeal. This is not the first terrible experience I have had with Hackney council.

As you see the reviews this is an understatement

If making life difficult for residents was a criteria for success, Hackney would get five stars.

What have they done to our services?

They have replaced grass-roots, essential services with 'net-zero focus groups'. The roads have been messed with - creating 'rain gardens' in middle-class ghettos. People are dying in temporary accommodation and they are spending money on 'Customer experience' managers.

Our bins are full, our streets are filthy and unsafe, our pavements are illegally blocked and our recycling is dumped into landfill

We can't make noise complaints - other than when it suits them.

It's a shambles. It is no longer being run for the people who live here.

Long wait times and poor customer service. Agents are unable to resolve simple issues and seem ill-informed of the council's own processes and policies

On the 23/02/2024 at around 19pm. There was a blackout on the whole building up to outside and communal areas, I rang hackney repairs to find out what was going on and the person on the other end seemed distracted and was not listening to me. She asked me to call my electricity provider and I insisted that it cannot be my provider because the lights are also out in the communal and even outside the building but she started threatening me.. I think some of these people working from home needs more training and supervision on how they interact with customers

ANOTHER PCN SCANDAL!!
It is a real shame I can't put minus stars.
These rampaging, mafia thieves will drink your energy and money dry like vampires drinking their victims blood.
They not only don't care an iota about residents/users of the area, but they revel and enjoy the making lives bitter.
They issued me a ticket when I was in middle of paying for my ticket, but when challenged I was told that" I'm giving you one anyway", laughing at me in the face.
I provided all the info needed, evidence, witnesses etc but they didn't accept any of it, instead turning up the amount of money of the pcn.
No wonder people hate them so much!!
I dream of the demise of labour in hackney!!
They ruin our streets, love to congest our roads, make them immensely unsafe, all the while claiming credit for the diametric opposite!!
Just like the murderer who helped look for the murderer!!
These corrupt daylight robbers will carry on in their path until people come out in droves to speak up, which is why i have written my review here at Trustpilot!!
The date of the pcn was a while ago, but I've been fighting it for a while and, as they hoped, i have no energy left to fight them, even though they are wrong, so for closure, i finished off today, and so the experience has been recorded as today...
#HACKNEYCRIMINALS

Ineffective.

This is a joke. I’ve been trying to renew my permit online and it isn’t working. Confirmation is given at the end - but it hasn’t gone through. If I didn’t check my account I wouldn’t have known and assumed it was renewed. It expired yesterday and the Hackney council is doing nothing to help. I’ve emailed 3 times and been ignored. Phoned and spoke to someone who said they would also send an email, and still nothing. Anything to hand out tickets to people.

They used to be quite good (despite the hack) but lately it's been really difficult to get any kind of clear, timely information from the Council. A bit frustrating given the amount of Council Tax we're paying.