Housing Ombudsman launches special investigation into London council

The Housing Ombudsman has announced a special investigation into Lewisham Council following a damning record of complaints handling.

A staggering 85% of cases against the council have been found to be instances of maladministration over the past year, with 16 of these deemed severely so.

The situation is particularly dire in cases involving leaks, damp and mould, where the maladministration rate hits a shocking 90%.

The investigation will establish if the tenant complaints are indicative of wider failure within the landlord.

‘Complaints are an essential tool for landlords’

Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, said: “Complaints are an essential tool for landlords to learn and improve and can help landlords navigate challenging periods.

“For several months we have been concerned at the repeated failings we have seen in the landlord’s complaints, particularly involving property conditions.

“We have given the landlord the opportunity to address some of these issues through our orders and will now progress to a further investigation.

“This will involve engaging with the landlord and its residents about some of the issues we have seen.”

He added: “Decent, safe and secure social housing has never been more important and the learning from this report will help the landlord to improve the experiences of residents.”

‘Improve our services for residents’

In a statement, Lewisham Council said: “We welcome this investigation as we continue to work to improve our services for residents.

“Our Housing Service has been going through big changes and we know it is in need of improvement.

“We referred ourselves to the Regulator of Social Housing for a potential breach of its consumer standards in December 2023, and we intend to be open and transparent with both Regulator and Ombudsman until we satisfy their requirements.

“We have already made progress in some areas, though we still have a long way to go.”