London councils have “failed the tenant and left them in disgrace”, says Michael Gove

Michael Gove has slammed Lambeth Council for “failing tenants” after a resident was left with boarded up windows for nearly two years.

The housing secretary has publicly named and shamed the London local authority after the Housing Ombudsman found “serious maladministration” in the way it handled residents’ complaints.

The Ombudsman found that council officials left the woman with her windows boarded up in the dead of winter after glass fell from her fifth-floor flat – calling it “simply unacceptable”.

Mold destroyed his belongings and made living there “intolerable”.

Naming three social housing landlords, including Lambeth on Wednesday, Mr Gove said: “Each of these landlords has failed their tenants, leaving people to suffer in disgraceful conditions while refusing to listen to complaints or treat them with respect.”

Also criticized were Orbit Housing and Birmingham City Council, which also had findings of “serious maladministration” against them this year after tenants made complaints.

A new social housing bill is due to become law next year, which will give the regulator the ability to enter properties with 48 hours’ notice for emergency repairs and make landlords foot the bill.

Mr Gove said he would leave all failed social housing landlords with “nowhere to hide”.

But Labour-led Lambeth said it had already improved standards for tenants – and suffered under 12 years of cuts “by Tory governments of which Michael Gove was a key part”.

Councilor Timothy Windle said council officials would be “happy” to speak to Mr Gove about the improvements and apologized to residents disappointed by the shoddy repairs.

He said measures taken by the council included replacing out-of-touch private contractors, carrying out a stock survey on council properties and a new tenant arbitration scheme.

“Lambeth has one of the largest housing stocks in the country and has therefore particularly suffered the impact of 12 years of funding cuts by Tory governments, of which Michael Gove was a key part,” he said.

“We welcome his recent admission that the conditions of social housing in this country are letting many people down – but we will wait to see if this position is backed up with the powers and funding needed to improve conditions, not just warm words.”

Around 10% of social housing is failing to meet a ‘decent home’ standard, according to figures from the English Housing Survey earlier this month.

The issue of poor quality social housing was brought into focus last month with the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale.

A coroner ruled the child died of a respiratory condition as a result of exposure to mold in the family’s home, which was owned by housing association Rochdale Borough Homes.