Council apologises to family forced to move out after being harassed for 18 months

The resident also claimed to have found a tracker on her car at the start of October. Earlier this month, she decided to move into her mother’s house for her children’s safety.

A letter from the tenant’s doctors dated 5 March, seen by Inside Housing, confirmed that her living conditions were “having an impact on her and her children’s health and well-being” and that there is “strong reason to believe that she should be relocated to an alternative accommodation”.

The tenant said she made her first complaints to Southwark Council and Leathermarket JMB, the TMO, in Autumn 2023. She said the TMO suggested over the phone that she could be rehoused in a different property, but this was unsuitable for her as it did not have a lift. The tenant has several disabilities, including arthritis and spondylosis.

“I have been a victim of harassment, malicious anti-social behaviour and mental abuse for the last 18 months,” the resident said. “I have been battling with Southwark Council and Leathermarket JMB for 18 months and neither are taking action or accountability.”

She said that her son has missed out on his education due to the neighbour banging the wall during the night. “He was so tired in the mornings, falling asleep on the way to school and in school,” she said.

“The banging was so bad, you could hear it from the stairwell and corridor. The walls would shake,” she added. “I have reapplied for housing but I have not been made priority.”

A different neighbour of the tenant told Inside Housing that the “noise disturbance” had also left them in an “intolerable living environment”.

Sarah King, cabinet member for council homes at Southwark Council, said: “I am very sorry that Ms X and her family have experienced such stressful antisocial behaviour for some time.

“Ms X lives in one of the council homes managed by Leathermarket JMB and the council has been working with JMB to deal with the problems she has faced.

“This has been a complex case with numerous issues to address, including both her welfare and the noise and nuisance. We hope to see some real progress soon as arrangements have now been made for Ms X to be rehoused in another part of the borough.

“I sincerely hope the issue is resolved soon and she can live more peacefully in Southwark.”

A spokesperson for Leathermarket JMB said: “Over the past 18 months, Leathermarket JMB has engaged multiple partner agencies, including police, noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour teams, mediation services, and the Crime Concern professional witness scheme in an attempt to resolve an ongoing dispute.”

“As the body that manages properties on our estates on behalf of Southwark Council, we do not have responsibility for allocating properties, but work with our residents to make referrals and support them to gather evidence to present to the council’s allocations team, as we have in this case. We continue to employ our best efforts to resolve the matter.”

In response, the resident told Inside Housing she was yet to hear from the council about being rehoused.

Ms King told the resident: “I was briefed on Monday that contact had been made with you about rehousing you elsewhere in the borough. This clearly isn’t the case and I am sorry that my quote was wrong.”

She said the case would be raised again with the council’s strategic director of housing.

She added: “I am sorry this has caused even more upset for you at what was already a really difficult time.”