Southwark Council has been ordered to pay almost £10,000 in compensation to two residents after severe maladministration findings were issued by the Housing Ombudsman

Case 1

The first case relates to the Councils poor handling of a complaint about heating loss over winter. This came from a resident who was pregnant and lived with a small child. The Council took over 6 months to solve the issue, leaving the family without heat throughout the winter months.

The Ombudsman found that the Councils responses to the complaint were delayed, they failed to address the residents concerns and did not follow the Councils own complaints policy. The Ombudsman also felt that the responses showed no empathy for her situation and provided no apology.

It was only after the Ombudsman and a local MP became involved that the situation was finally resolved.

Southwark Council were ordered to pay the resident £2,000 in compensation.

Case 2

The second case related to damp and mould inside the home of a young family.

The Ombudsman found serve maladministration for how the Council dealt with complaints by the family of a leak, mould and damp within the property.

The family were left with a leak which impacted multiple rooms for 11 months. The Council refused the families repeated requests for rehousing and compensation. Further, once the leak was repaired, the Council failed to resolve the damp and mould part of the complaint for a total of 17 months. This was especially concerning since the children within the property suffered from eczema and allergies.

The Ombudsman said – “The landlord’s lack of resolution focus was inappropriate and the unfulfilled repair orders suggest the landlord failed to avoid or minimise the identified damp and mould hazard over an inappropriate timeframe”

Southwark Council were ordered to pay the family almost £7,500 in compensation and required to respond to their rehousing request, along with a requirement to carry out a full inspection on the damp and mould in the home.

Southwark Councils response

Southwark said that both of these cases made “for very difficult reading”. It apologised unreservedly for the distress caused to these families by its actions and processes.

The council added: “As soon as the Ombudsman raised these with us, we made immediate changes to our processes to try to prevent such failures happening again.”

These changes included establishing a dedicated damp and mould team who support residents from the moment they report the issue to the council to its resolution.