7 Oct 2025: Housing Ombudsman published a special investigation: Lewisham Council must know its homes better to improve services for residents.
Their article below highlights a recent special investigation by the Housing Ombudsman into Lewisham Council, which raises significant issues around how the landlord manages its homes, handles repairs and supports residents. The findings are relevant to all member charities, as they underline the importance of good data, effective complaint handling and proactive management of housing conditions, particularly in relation to damp and mould. We encourage members to read the report to identify potential learning and apply it, where applicable, within their own charities.
Housing Ombudsman Special Investigation
We have released our special investigation report into Lewisham Council.
This follows serious concerns about the way it manages hazards and handles complaints and repairs in its homes in the complaints we’ve investigated.
In 92% of findings the landlord had handled an issue poorly.
Our investigation found issues across multiple areas. This includes:
- hazards
- communication with, and attitude towards, residents
- contract management
- knowledge and information management
- system failure
During our investigation we met directly with residents to understand the real-life impact of the landlord’s failures, housing officers and the appointed Member Responsible for Complaints.
The landlord told us almost a quarter of the housing it manages did not meet the Decent Homes Standard as of September 2024. The standard is a set of minimum quality rules for UK social housing. This is compared to an average of 10.8% across London local authorities. Poor data prevented the landlord having a true understanding of its issue with decent homes.
Damp and mould is the leading cause for not meeting the standard and a primary reason why residents are escalating complaints to us. The landlord admitted to not using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to assess damp and mould or category 1 and 2 hazards. HHSRS is a risk-based evaluation tool to help local authorities find and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety. We also found the landlord applying temporary fixes, such as mould washes, to ongoing problems such as leaks.
The landlord has committed to make changes. It is currently collecting information about its properties and the people living in them. They told us it had previously relied on property information from when its housing management came back in-house.
We publish special investigation reports to help other landlords identify potential learning to improve their own services.
- Read the Housing Ombudsman’s full article on their website here
- Link to report here
posted 9 October 2025