‘Severe maladministration’ – Lambeth Labour’s landlord record blasted in new report from Housing Ombudsman

A fresh report has delivered another damning line to the epitaph of Claire Holland’s failed Labour administration, just weeks after their historic loss in May’s local elections.

Two decades of Labour rule in Lambeth have left the borough with one of the worst housing records in the country – chronic under-building, unsustainable temporary accommodation expenditure, the costly collapse of its own development company, Homes for Lambeth, and now another official finding against its conduct as one of London’s biggest landlords.

Around 5,000 households are in temporary accommodation, a bill that has risen from roughly £30m a year in 2021 to £71m in 2024, projected to hit £100m this year – much of it paid to providers the council cannot explain how it selected, including one company housing hundreds of Lambeth families mostly outside the borough.

Holland’s oversight of Lambeth’s own bodies was equally poor.

Its internal auditors gave a tenant management organisation the council funds with £3m a year, the Loughborough Estate Management Board, the lowest possible ‘No Assurance’ rating, citing a high risk of fraud and governance failure; Lambeth has since referred it to the Financial Conduct Authority.

External auditors Forvis Mazars, meanwhile, warn that three years of the council’s own accounts remain unaudited, with ‘further statutory intervention’ not ruled out.

Lambeth’s Housing Revenue Account only shows an £8m surplus this year because of £40m in one-off Exceptional Financial Support from government. Without it, the account would be in deficit, and this is not the first time the scale of the problems has reached Whitehall.

In 2024, then Housing Secretary Michael Gove wrote to Holland after the Ombudsman found six separate cases of severe maladministration against Lambeth.

Now the Ombudsman has added a seventh. Its June report, ‘Learning from Severe Maladministration,’ examined roof-leak cases nationally, including Lambeth’s failure to repair a leak into a child’s bedroom, leaving it cold, damp and without heating or electricity for months.

Despite knowing children slept there, the council carried out no risk assessment and took 27 months to fix the roof – 17 months of that spent before it even started a required leaseholder consultation. Under Awaab’s Law, now in force, a damp and mould hazard like this would require investigation within 10 working days and action within 5 working days of that – not 27 months.

With residents in the borough set to cast their votes in two byelections this week, the report represents one more bitter footnote on the gravestone Lambeth Labour leaves behind.

Update: Council Response – 8 July 2026

A Lambeth spokesperson said, “under the Council’s new administration,” it was “determined not only to tackle problems quickly and fairly whenever they occur, but to learn lessons from this and other cases.”

The spokesperson added: “We accept the Ombudsman’s finding of severe maladministration and recognise that our handling of the roof leak, damp and mould, and associated complaint did not meet the standards we expect of ourselves or that residents should receive. We are sorry for the impact this had on this resident and their household.”

The council said it has taken steps to put this right, “including issuing a formal apology, paying compensation, and progressing further inspection and remedial works to address the underlying issues.”

More Info

Local by-elections Thursday 9 July 2026

Clapham Park

Streatham St Leonards

Housing Ombusdman – landlords

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