Raising a complaint with Southwark Council

Residents with concerns regarding maintenance, safety, landlord disputes, neighbourhood issues, or housing conditions are urged to address them through formal channels. By following these steps sequentially, you ensure your concerns are documented, and suitable avenues for resolution are available.

We suggest you go through these steps one by one. Move on to the next one only after you’ve tried everything in the current step:

Raise your complaint with Southwark Council
Raise your complaint with the Housing Ombudsman
Raise your complaint to the Arbitration Tribunal
Raise your complaint to the First Tier Tribunal

Step 1: Southwark Council Complaints

This is 2 stage, free process. You can make a stage 1 complaint using the
webform. You should receive a reference number for the complaints lodged,
and a response should be issued to you within 8 weeks, or less time for housing issues.

At stage 1, the complaint should include:

details of the issue;
what has been done;
what hasn’t been done, and;
what does claimant want for redress?

LBS Stage 1 complaint Webform: https://forms.southwark.gov.uk/ShowForm.asp?fm_fid=726

If you are not satisfied with response, or you have not received a response within 8 weeks, you can escalate to review stage using the webform where an independent team within council will look at how the original decision was come to.

At stage 2, the complaint should include:

Where LBS haven’t addressed points of concern;
Ongoing short comings in their response;
Anything new that is related to the overarching issue, for example a new flood where LBS did not really fix the issue again.

LBS Stage 2 complaint Webform:
https://forms.southwark.gov.uk/ShowForm.asp?nc=LZZO&fm_fid=2180

If the 2-stage process has been exhausted and leaseholders are unhappy with the outcome they can also escalate any complaints that they have to an external body.

Step 2: Housing Ombudsman

An independent body who can investigate and hear each sides’ case before
making a decision. Referrals can be made by you directly if you have utilised
the entire Southwark formal complaints process and had a final response.
Decisions can only be challenged by Judicial Review.

Issues that Housing Ombudsman will consider:

Leasehold issues;
Rents and service charges;
Property condition – repairs and improvements;
Estate management;
Compensation;
Complaint procedures.

The Housing Ombudsman has published guidance on how they make
decisions on remedies. This includes various issues such as unresolved leasehold issues and disrepair which is caused by landlord failings.

Please note that this Remedies Guidance is an internal document made publicly available by the Housing Ombudsman to improve transparency in decision making. For details please see: https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2022/09/Remedies-Guidance-September-2022.pdf

Please find the guide for seeking compensation here: https://www.housingombudsman.org.uk/centre-for-learning/key-topics/our-orders/#c

Seeking Compensation: Points to Consider –

How many rooms are affected and which rooms are affected?
How much mortgage you pay each month, if any?
Have the rooms affected been rendered uninhabitable?
What type of disrepair was it?
When did you first report the issue to the Council and when did the council
fix the issue?
What is the severity of the disrepair?
Is the disrepair causing serious harm to your health and safety?
Are there any personal possessions that have been damaged and need
replacing; and what the value of that might be?
Did you pay out of pocket for a repair/ redecoration which occurred as a
consequence of delayed or non-action by LBS and/or its contractors?
Do you have evidence for the expenses?
Is there anything that you can claim compensation from via home contents
insurance if you have a valid policy- this will affect the amount of
compensation that the council will make as they won’t pay twice for
something that has already been compensated?

Tips from the Housing Ombudsman: https://www.housingombudsman.org.uk/residents/make-a-complaint/outcome-page-helpcomplain-landlord/

Step 3: Southwark Council Arbitration Tribunal

Free tribunal for disputes between Southwark and their leaseholders. Hearing
panels are divided into the Tenant and Leasehold Arbitration Panel and the
Homeowners Service Charge Arbitration Panel. Once the application is
submitted, LBS should respond within 5 working days regarding a hearing
date.

The arbitration panel is composed of one elected tenant or leaseholder
representative, an independent chairperson and a councillor. A qualified
housing law expert acts as a legal advisor to the panel. They should be free of
conflict of interest with you and be from a different ward to the ward you live
in. They can award compensation or require freeholder to do something (e.g.
make repairs). Written decisions are made within 28 days of hearing and they
are legally binding. Arbitration decisions can only be challenged in court, not
at the First Tier Tribunal. You will 28 days to make an appeal regarding any
administrative or procedural errors arising from the judgement.

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/complaints-commentsand-compliments/arbitration

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/home-owners-services/independentrepresentation-and-arbitration/homeowner-s-arbitration-service

Step 4: First Tier Tribunal – Property Chamber, Residential Property Disputes

Leaseholders (or a leaseholder group) can apply to FTT for a fee of £300.
First Tier Tribunal – Property Chamber is a tribunal who predominantly deal
with leasehold and service charge disputes. They will look at each side’s case
and make a decision. You can call witnesses and submit evidence. Decisions
can be challenged in the Upper Tribunal and further through the court system.
Many applicants represent themselves. https://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/application-first-tier-tribunalproperty-chamber/

You can represent yourself or pay for representation by a legal professional. Advocate can offer free representation if you are eligible: https://weareadvocate.org.uk/.

There is guidance on the FTT’s website for each type of application. For
details: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/residential-property-firsttier-tribunal-forms

Tenant Applicants to the FTT may apply for an order under Section 20C of the
Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 to not have the legal costs incurred by the
Landlord in the case to be regarded as relevant costs to be taken into account
in determining the amount of any service charge payable by the tenant or any
other person or persons specified in the application. It is up to judge to decide
if the request for and granting of order is just and equitable in the
circumstances.

The judge will make an oral decision at the end of the hearing and a written
decision (‘notice of decision’) will be posted to the parties within 6 weeks. You
can apply to the FTT to lodge an appeal or a reconsideration within 28 days of
the date on the written decision.