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Housing Support
Looking for a home
Registering and bidding for a council or housing association property
Before you proceed, complete the online housing options self-assessment to see if you have a realistic chance of securing social housing.
The application form is accessible through MySouthwark:
- Log in to your MySouthwark account or register on MySouthwark.
- Click on the 'Your accounts' page and add the 'Housing Applications' service. Hit 'save'.
- Click on 'View' Housing Applications.
- Click on 'Complete a Housing Applications Form'. Follow the steps on the form.
If you are already registered on the bidding list but your situation has changed e.g. your household number has increased or your health needs have increased, use the ‘MySouthwark’ website to submit a ‘Change of Circumstances form’.
Homelessness
Housing Solutions Service
Southwark’s Housing Solutions service is there to offer support if you are currently homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. They may provide you with temporary accommodation and will assess you to provide you with a Personal Housing Plan (PHP). The aim of the PHP is to try and make sure you have somewhere suitable to live for at least the next 6 months.
Telephone: 020 7525 4140 Hours of service: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 9am to 4pm Wednesday: 10am to 4pm
Shelter - free expert housing advice
Talk to an expert Housing Adviser if you are in urgent need of housing advice.
You can contact them if:
- You have nowhere to sleep, or might be homeless soon
- You have somewhere to sleep, but nowhere to call home
- You are/could be at risk of harm in relation to your housing situation
Having relevant documents (tenancy agreements, council letters etc) to hand will help Shelter deal with your problem. When you call, they'll ask you to explain what’s going on and these documents can help them understand the situation. Having a pen and paper can also be helpful.
Telephone: 0808 800 4444, open every day of the year:
- 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday
- 9am to 5pm weekends
Concerned about a rough sleeper? Contact StreetLink
If you’ve seen someone sleeping rough, or if you’re sleeping rough yourself, you can inform StreetLink via their website. StreetLink can help to connect a person to the local services and support available to them.
Housing Repairs
(for Council-managed properties and Housing Associations only)
Housing Repairs – emergency situations
An emergency repair is needed when there is imminent danger to you or the structure of the building. If you think you are in danger, you should leave the property immediately. Contact emergency services if necessary. You should then contact the council to make the situation safe; they may need to return another day to complete the full repair. You should consider leaving the property if you feel your safety is at risk.
Visit the Housing Repairs website
Telephone: All emergency repairs can be reported to Southwark council 24/7 by calling 0800 952 4444 or 020 7525 2600.
Email: repairs@southwark.gov.uk (once they have received your email, they will get back to you as soon as possible)
Housing Repairs – non-emergency
Non-emergency repairs should be reported online by logging into your MySouthwark account and selecting the Housing repairs tab. If you are unable to access the internet, you can call Southwark council’s repair team by phone.
Visit the Housing Repairs website
Telephone: 020 7525 2600
Email: repairs@southwark.gov.uk
‘Fix it at home’
Southwark council have produced a series of instructional videos that show you how easy it is to do home repairs yourself. Their videos will talk you through important repairs such as fixing lightbulbs and managing mould.
Complaints about your property
Southwark Council Complaints Department
You may wish to consider making a formal complaint to the council about your housing situation. The Complaints Department will process your complaint and may liaise with your Housing Officer to try and address your concerns. Please note the Complaints Department will want to know you have tried to resolve the problem directly with your Housing Officer first before they get involved. Response times are within 15 working days (this does not necessarily mean your repair will be resolved in this time).
Email: complaints@southwark.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7525 0042
Housing Ombudsman
The Housing Ombudsman Service is set up by law to look at complaints about the housing organisations that are registered with them. The service is free, independent, and impartial.
They resolve disputes involving the tenants and leaseholders of social landlords (housing associations and the council) and voluntary members (private landlords and letting agents who are committed to good service for their tenants).
Email: info@housingombudsman.org.uk
Telephone: Call on 0300 111 3000 9.15am to 5.15pm: Monday to Friday
Noise and Antisocial Behaviour
Noise & Nuisance Team
If you feel that you are being disturbed at any time, you should contact the Noise & Nuisance Team via the Environmental Call Centre. If the nuisance can then be witnessed by an authorised officer, the appropriate action will be taken.
For the noise to count as a statutory nuisance, it must do one of the following:
- Unreasonably and substantially interfere with the use or enjoyment of a home or other premises; for example, it may prevent you from sleeping at night, watching TV or having a conversation
- Injure health or be likely to injure health
Visit the Noise & Nuisance Team website
Telephone: 0207 525 5777 The Noise Rapid Response operation times are as follows: 7am Friday through to 2.30am Tuesday, and then 7am through to 2.30am the following morning on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.
Private Renting Support
Tenancy Relations Team
Southwark Council’s Tenancy Relations Service can support if you need help with managing the relationships with your landlord and preventing evictions.
Southwark Private Renters Project
Southwark private Renters' Support Projectis a part of Citizens Advice Southwark. They support local residents to have a better private rental experience.
General Housing Advice
Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB)
Free, confidential, independent, and impartial advice to help resolve problems with money (including benefits), housing, employment and certain legal issues. This includes rent and mortgage arrears, tenants' rights and responsibilities, transfer requests, homelessness, disrepair, possession, warrants, landlord/tenant disputes and arbitration applications, environmental and neighbourhood issues.
Visit the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) website (to speak to someone)
Visit the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) - Housing website (for housing advice pages)
Cambridge House Law Centre
Cambridge house Law Centre prevents homelessness by advising tenants about their housing rights. The Law Centre legally represents people who face eviction, homelessness, disrepair, and other problems relating to their housing situations.
Visit the Cambridge House Law Centre website
Location: Cambridge House, 1 Addington Square, London SE5 7JZ
Telephone: 0207 358 7025 Call between 10am and 1pm, or 2pm and 4pm, Monday to Friday.
Email: lawcentre@ch1889.org
Completing forms and obtaining letters
(for housing purposes)
Southwark Service Point
Also known as the Peckham MySouthwark service point, they offer:
- 30 minute to 1-hour appointments - for complex enquiries about Council Tax and Housing Benefit
- 15-minute fast track service appointments - for document submission and general enquiries regarding Council Tax, Housing Benefit and Blue Badge applications
You'll be required to book an appointment to access most services. Use the online form to book an appointment.
Medical Letters for Housing
If your health is directly relevant to your housing situation, you may need to submit information about your health as part of your housing application. GP Surgeries are unable to provide detailed letters explaining your current situation, instead a ‘medical summary’ will suffice. To obtain this, please contact your GP Surgery to request a ‘medical summary’. Please note this can take the surgery time to process. If you have others in your household where their health needs are relevant to your housing situation, it would be beneficial to include these also.
Once you have obtained a medical summary, they can be sent via email to housinglist@southwark.gov.uk or uploaded via online form on MySouthwark. Make sure you include your housing reference number, or the document may be lost. If you have no internet access, you can bring your medical summary to the OneStop shop in Peckham (ground floor of Peckham Library).
Other support available
Stonewall Housing – Housing Support for those identifying as LGBTQI+
A free and confidential service that can help with all housing issues in Southwark. This includes:
- if you’re homeless or at risk of becoming homeless;
- if your relationship with your family has broken down because of your sexual orientation or gender identity;
- if you’ve been victimised or harassed;
- if you need to escape from domestic abuse;
- if you need advice about a dispute with your landlord;
- if you need advice with your housing benefits.
Refuge – Domestic Violence Housing Support
Refuge provides free and confidential support to those currently or recently experiencing domestic. Refuge provide a range of support, including housing support. They can help liaise with services on a person’s behalf.
Support includes: improving personal safety, housing and homelessness, finances and welfare benefits, access to legal services, parenting and children support and emotional support.
Telephone: 0207 593 1290
Email: SDAS@refuge.org.uk