Residents being ‘tricked’ into free legal claims against council, councillors claim

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Desperate tenants are being tricked into launching legal claims against a council by solicitors who promise to fix repairs in their homes for free, it has been claimed.

Ainsley Forbes, chair of Lewisham Homes, which manages 19,000 properties in Lewisham on behalf of the council, said many residents who accepted the help of law firms didn’t realise they had lodged a compensation claim until it was too late.

Lewisham council is currently bringing all homes under the management of Lewisham Homes back under council control, a process which is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Speaking at a Lewisham council housing committee on September 12, Mr Forbes revealed he received three calls a week from solicitors’ agents asking him if he was a council tenant and needed a repair sorting.

He said: “What they say is they are the social work repair team. Have I got something in my property that needs repairing that the council has been slow to do?

“They’ll come round and do it quickly and there won’t be any charge to me and they will sort it out with the council.

“I think that’s how a lot of people get sucked in. They don’t know they are getting involved in a disrepair claim until some way down the line.”

Councillor Stephen Penfold, chair of the housing committee, branded solicitors using such tactics “dishonest” and said Mr Forbes needed to report them to the legal regulator.

Cllr Penfold, Labour member for Brockley, said: “That needs to be dealt with because that’s fundamentally dishonest and those people should not be allowed to do that.

“Solicitors sign up to a code of conduct and if they’re allowing agents to do that, that should be dealt with. We shouldn’t just ignore that.”

Councillor Will Cooper, Labour member for Evelyn, said he had met residents who had unknowingly launched disrepair claims go on to be hit with hefty solicitors bills when they tried to stop the claim.

He said: “[There’s] situations where a resident will bring a disrepair claim, not realising it’s a disrepair claim, and then won’t hear from the solicitors for the next four months… When they try and exit the agreement they’re charged legal fees.”

Labour councillor Rosie Parry echoed Mr Forbes comments, claiming that some law firms weren’t being clear about who they worked for when offering help with repairs to residents.

She said: “We’re definitely seeing that in Deptford, where more and more we’re having people targeting estates where they know there’s Lewisham Homes properties or council properties in general.

“And also not being completely transparent about the fact they’re not working with the council, so it’s like a kind of vague introduction where they semi-imply they might work for Lewisham Homes, they might be with the council.”

Pictured top: Lewisham Homes is based at Laurence House, Catford (Picture: Google Street View)