Michael Gove has demanded answers and action from Lambeth LBC and Birmingham City Council after the ombudsman found severe maladministration in their handling of complaints.

It brings the total number of landlords that have recently been publicly criticised by the housing secretary for poor performance to 14.

Mr Gove said: ‘Each of these landlords have failed their tenants, letting people suffer in disgraceful conditions while refusing to listen to complaints or treat them with respect.’

Lambeth announced in November that it plans to bring its housing firm back in-house following a review by independent peer and former civil servant Lord Kerslake.

Cabinet member for housing at Lambeth, Timothy Windle, said: ‘We have apologised to residents let down by poor repairs and handling of complaints and are taking action to improve services for all residents who live in Lambeth properties.

‘Lambeth has one of the largest housing stocks in the country and therefore has particularly suffered the impact of 12 years of cuts in funding by the Conservative Governments that Michael Gove has been a key part of.

‘We welcome his new-found recognition that social housing conditions in this country are letting many people down.’

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson added: ‘The cases referred to in the DLUHC [Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities] press release are historical cases and relate to 2021-22 and have now been resolved.

'Since then we have undertaken a review of how complaints and ombudsman cases are dealt with and have liaised directly with the housing ombudsman as part of our journey of improvement and are applying any lessons learned from these previous cases.’

This article was originally published by The MJ (£).