Southwark Council spent £5 million on Legal Disrepair Claims in One Year

Information obtained by the Southwark Liberal Democrats has revealed that Labour-run Southwark Council spent £5 million on Legal Disrepair claims in 2023, with the average time to process a case taking a year, and the longest case finally closed in 2023 after 6 years. 

Legal Disrepair is a specific legal route that residents and leaseholders can pursue where all other channels of complaints and disrepair have been exhausted. Legal disrepair is distinct from day-to-day repair jobs, and usually applies in the most serious of cases. 

The costs incurred include both legal and compensatory costs. 

This comes after the Liberal Democrats revealed that over 330 complaints are made to the housing department a month, uncovered the major works scandals, and the Ombudsman ranked it the 3rd worst housing department in the country.  

The Regulator of Social Housing also made it the first council to be on its “gradings under review” list due to potential “serious failings”, following a self-referral over the council’s failure to properly conduct electrical safety tests. 

The ombudsman had also previously identified “severe maladministration” in multiple cases, forcing it to pay out thousands in compensation. 

Of 808 disrepair cases, the vast majority, 724, consisted of multiple reasons for disrepair, with 46 being for environmental protection act related cases, which includes pests and damp and mould. 

Southwark Liberal Democrats have said that this is more evidence of Southwark’s failing housing department, and shows how far Labour have let things disintegrate. 

Commenting, Southwark Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Cllr Emily Tester said:  

“This is no surprise at all after the battery of scandals, and the scale of poor quality housing we see every day as Councillors. Labour have let our estates crumble, leading to misery for residents and soaring costs for the council in the long run. Once again we’re seeing Labour being a shoddy landlord, the whole thing needs root and branch reform”