Wandsworth Council

The Housing Ombudsman is the independent body that investigates complaints about social landlords. When it finds a landlord got things wrong, it makes a finding of "maladministration" — or "severe maladministration" for the most serious failings.

The 2024-25 performance report. The Ombudsman's landlord performance report for Wandsworth covers the cases it decided — "determinations" — between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. Across 25 decided cases, of 60 findings counted, 49 were maladministration — 81.7%, against a national rate of 71% (and 80% for landlords of a similar size and type).^[1] Four were severe maladministration, the Ombudsman's most serious category.^[1] The largest failure area was the condition of people's homes — what the Ombudsman calls "property condition" — where the report records an 88% maladministration rate, 24 findings in all. Leaks, damp and mould were prominent among the repairs failures.^[1] Across the year it made 91 orders, recorded £17,124 in compensation, and made no complaint handling failure orders.^[1]

A rising rate. The Ombudsman's own restated figures show the council's maladministration rate rising over each of the last three years — about 33% in 2022-23, 65% in 2023-24 and 82% in 2024-25. Its annual determinations grew from 7 to 25, then held at 25.^[1]

What this has meant for residents. In a decision published in June 2023, the Ombudsman found severe maladministration in how the council responded to reports of damp and mould — it had put the problem down to condensation without investigating properly, and delayed inspecting and diagnosing the work needed. It concluded that the council "failed to react with appropriate urgency to the resident's reports despite the presence of a young child in the property and health concerns raised by her and her GP."^[6] In a leak case decided in January 2025 — within the year covered above — it again found severe maladministration, concluding that "the landlord's cumulative failings are serious and constitute severe maladministration because of its failures over a significant period which have had a seriously detrimental impact on the resident."^[7]

“The landlord failed to react with appropriate urgency to the resident's reports despite the presence of a young child in the property and health concerns raised by her and her GP.”^[6]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Wandsworth Council (202201207) — decision (23 June 2023, 202201207)

“The landlord's cumulative failings are serious and constitute severe maladministration because of its failures over a significant period which have had a seriously detrimental impact on the resident.”^[7]

Housing Ombudsman Service, Wandsworth Council (202317965) — decision (7 January 2025, 202317965)

What the council has said and done. The Ombudsman records that the council complied, within three months, with all of the orders that fell due in the period.^[1]

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) is the government body that checks social landlords meet required standards for safe, decent homes. Since 2024 the RSH has been inspecting social landlords and giving each a consumer grade from C1 (the strongest) to C4.

Wandsworth's grade is C3. In a judgement published on 26 February 2025 — following the council's first inspection under the new consumer regime — the regulator graded Wandsworth Council C3: "Our judgement is that there are serious failings in the landlord delivering the outcomes of the consumer standards and significant improvement is needed."^[3]

What the judgement found. The regulator's main concerns were about building safety and how well the council knew the condition of its own homes. It found that, at the time of the inspection, "almost 80% of communal areas and around 40% of homes had not had an electrical safety test", and that there were "almost 1,800 overdue fire safety remedial actions", all more than 12 months overdue.^[3] It also found the council had surveyed the condition of "just under 6.5% of its homes and 275 blocks" in 2022-23.^[3] The regulator judged that the council met two of the consumer standards — those covering neighbourhood and community, and tenancy.^[3]

What the council has said and done. In response, Aydin Dikerdem, the council's Cabinet Member for Housing, said: "While it is not what we hoped for, this report will help us in targeting where we need to improve."^[3] The council says electrical tests have now been completed on 75% of communal areas and 70% of homes, and that it has begun a programme to survey 20% of its stock each year for five years; those figures are the council's own.^[3]

No regulatory notice in force. Separately, as at the date this page was last checked, the Regulator of Social Housing has no regulatory notice — a formal published finding of a breach — in force against Wandsworth.^[9] Regulatory grades are reviewed from time to time and may change — the date above is the one that matters.

Whatever a landlord's track record, its legal duties are the same — and they are strong.

Repairs. Under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, Wandsworth Council must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair — the roof, walls, windows and doors — and keep the installations for heating, hot water, gas, electricity, water and sanitation in proper working order. This applies to almost every council tenancy and cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement.

Fitness for human habitation. Under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 (section 9A of the 1985 Act), your home must also be fit to live in — free from serious hazards, including damp and mould that could harm your health.

Awaab's Law. Awaab's Law now sets legally binding timescales for social landlords, including councils, to investigate hazards such as damp and mould and to make homes safe — the disrepair page sets them out.^[10]

Where to report and complain. Wandsworth manages its repairs in-house rather than through an arm's-length company.^[3] Report a non-urgent repair online through a Wandsworth Housing Online account; report an emergency repair by phone — in working hours to your area housing team, and at any other time on the housing-emergencies line the council lists as 24-hour.^[13] Complain through the council's two-stage housing complaints process.^[15] The council publishes no target times by repair category; for damp, mould and other serious hazards the Awaab's Law timescales above apply, and the disrepair page carries the numbers and the complaint stages.

Some Wandsworth homes are run day-to-day by a tenant or co-operative management organisation, which has its own separate complaints process — but where the council owns the home, the council remains your landlord, and the legal duties above still apply.^[3]