LIB DEMS CHAMPION TENANTS’ RIGHTS ON REPAIRS

The Liberal Democrats will call on Lambeth Council to give decisive new rights to tenants and leaseholders on housing repairs at the Full Council meeting, tonight, Wednesday, 15 July 2026. This fulfils an important manifesto commitment for the party.

The Lib Dems have tabled a motion at Full Council that will allow residents to sign off not just housing repairs but also missed appointments and communal repairs. They’ll expand this to cover leaseholders too, and will strengthen Councillors’ rights to speak up for residents on repairs.

Currently, Lambeth Council is rolling out a system whereby tenants are sent a text message after a repair, asking if they are satisfied with it. If they say “no,” the repair automatically becomes a live job again, and the contractor has to come back. If the resident is still unhappy, the Council inspects the work and decides if the job is finished.

The Lib Dems, fulfilling their manifesto promise, want to go further. They are calling on Lambeth to add missed appointments to the scheme, since those are a constant source of frustration to residents. They also want to bring in communal repairs, and to extend the scheme to cover leaseholders.

Crucially, they say that if the resident refuses to sign off a second time, instead of Council Officers deciding on their own whether the job should be closed and the contractor paid, Councillors should be given a formal right to make representations on the resident’s behalf.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee, Cllr Simon Cordon, said,

“With England playing tonight, we're hoping to score a win tonight too for Lambeth's tenants and leaseholders. This was a key policy in our manifesto.  For too long people have had to pay for poor quality repairs. We hope the other parties back our resident sign off plan, because it will put leaseholders and tenants back in charge."

The Lib Dem proposal will be debated at the Town Hall on Wednesday evening, with a vote expected around 9.30pm.

Notes

The text of the Liberal Democrat motion is as follows:

Motion 4: Liberal Democrats

Tenant and Leaseholder Sign-Off of Housing Repairs 

Council notes that:

·       In 2025 Lambeth had 23,600 socially rented Council homes, and a further 10,000 leasehold properties.

·       A higher proportion of Lambeth residents live in Council housing stock than the London average, 16.7% compared to 10.6%.

·       In August 2025 the Housing Ombudsman named Lambeth among the worst offenders for severe maladministration in housing repairs.

·       This included the statement that Lambeth’s multiple cases of severe maladministration on damp and mould showed failings that were “persistent and systemic.”

·       The Housing Ombudsman ordered large sums to be paid in compensation, including over £7,000 to a resident with Alzheimer’s who was left with “top to bottom” damp and mould in every room for two years despite multiple inspections by Lambeth Officers, £1,800 to two brothers, one disabled, left freezing in “unbearable” conditions for five years after Lambeth had accepted that their windows and doors needed to be replaced, and £2,800 to a family in need of window repairs for four years, despite multiple complaints, broken promises and unfulfilled work orders.

·       Housing disrepair claims are a significant cost pressure on the Housing Revenue Account with £40 million set aside through Exceptional Financial Support in 2025/26.

·       In November 2025 analysis of tenant satisfaction measures published by the Regulator of Social Housing showed Lambeth as 349th out of 353 social housing providers. Only 47% of respondents were satisfied with Lambeth’s housing service, compared with 72% for the median provider.

·       Council tenants and leaseholders are restricted in what repair work they are allowed to carry out on their dwellings.

·       Since August 2025 Lambeth has been rolling out an SMS survey to tenants following repairs, with the aim of covering the whole borough by early autumn.

·       This allows tenants to sign-off a repair as satisfactory; if they do not, the repair does not show as complete and the contractor must visit again.

·       If a tenant withholds sign-off a second time, an inspection takes place, either in person, or virtually.

·       This system is intended to incentivise contractors to get things right first time, as they are either not paid or have KPI points deducted depending on the nature of the work.

Council believes that:

·       Lambeth Council has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable from hardship and indignity, including in housing.

·       This is particularly relevant to Council tenants, who depend on the Council for good care of their homes.

·       Lambeth Council wastes money on multiple call-outs for the same repairs, and in compensation for problems that are not addressed properly.

·       Improving the repairs service for tenants and leaseholders is a priority for a Council based on decency, respect and value for money.

·       The SMS survey is a valuable step towards empowering and listening to the voices of tenants and leaseholders.

Council resolves to:

·       Welcome, support and develop further the Housing team’s SMS survey for sign-off of repairs.

·       Build on it to create a permanent, borough-wide sign-off system for tenants and leaseholders, which also extends to missed appointments and to communal repairs.

·       Ask officers to develop the tenant / leaseholder sign-off process and that it should include:

o   that the process should be completed before payment of contractors, bearing in mind existing contracts and applicable law.

o   that Ward Councillors will be informed if sign-off is withheld a second time, with an option to make representations to Officers in those cases.

·       Ask Officers to make a report annually to the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee or any successor, publicised on the Council’s website, showing the number of refusals of sign-off at each stage, in the context of the total number of repairs, and including trends, reasons and other relevant analysis.

·  Ask Officers to complete full implementation across the borough of this enhanced new system by the end of the 2026/27 financial year.

Cllr Doug Buist will move the motion:

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