Southwark is one of the most complained about councils - again
Southwark is the 7th most complained about council for damp and mould, the industry magazine PropertyWire has reported.
The council reportedly has 16.01 damp and mould complaints per 10,000 homes, putting it in the top 10 worst councils for damp and mould complaints. 8 of the top 10 in the country are in London, with all but the City of London run by Labour.
This comes as the Southwark Liberal Democrats gear up for their vote of no confidence in the Labour leadership in Southwark, which they have tabled following the Regulator of Social Housing’s findings of “serious failings” in November. The motion will be tabled at an Extraordinary Meeting called by the Liberal Democrats on the 26th February.
The regulator awarded the council a “C3” grade – the second lowest grade possible. The findings included 2000 overdue fire safety remedial works, half of the 38,000 properties not containing smoke alarms, and half of homes not having up-to-date electrical safety certificates. A third of homes did not meet the Decent Homes Standard.
Southwark Council has previously topped tables on housing issues – according to the Local Government Ombudsman they received the 3rd highest number of complaints in the country, and was forced by the Housing Ombudsman to pay out the 5th most compensation in London, which had almost quadrupled in a year to £89,000.
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Victor Chamberlain, said:
“Once again Southwark Labour are topping the tables for housing complaints. Far too many residents in Southwark are being forced to live in unacceptable homes, and our councillors are inundated with complaints about damp and mould. This has gone on for far too long, and it’s time that those responsible take full accountability for this failure – enough is enough”