The council has written to the board’s leadership setting out a number of issues, as part of ongoing efforts to ensure good management of the estate and to address serious resident concerns that have been raised over an extended period of time.
The board manages the estate in Loughborough Junction on behalf of residents and is required to adhere to clear standards of transparency, governance and financial probity. The council’s powers to intervene in this case are limited by legislation but action is being taken across a range of issues. A council report in November 2025 highlighted serious audit concerns regarding financial management, governance, procurement and value for money. The report also highlighted spending on foreign travel and gifts without adequate justification.
The council has already raised significant concerns with the board about a series of financial and governance failures, including the failure to follow financial regulations, to produce audited accounts, and to follow their own rules when refusing to allow residents to become shareholders which provides them with rights to vote for who sits on the board.
The latest moves follow attempts by the board to hold an online, instead of an in-person, annual general meeting, which represents a breach of LEMB’s rules and constitution, and risks restricting the ability of residents to hold the board to account and exercise their rights. The council wrote to the managing board earlier this month to express its concerns and to request that the rules are followed. That letter was ignored by LEMB and so the council released a letter to all residents seeking to ensure they are fully informed of the issues and have the chance to properly participate in the running of their estate.
These actions are in addition to recent moves by the council to seek to move ahead with a new resident ballot on the future running of the estate, a referral of the board to the Financial Conduct Authority, and work with the government on reforms to give more powers to local residents and councils to be able to take action when concerns are raised about poorly performing Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs).
The council’s actions have been heavily constrained by current TMO legislation which has meant a ballot by residents last year to not continue with the management by LEMB, an outcome supported by both Lambeth and residents, has not been able to be progressed.
Lambeth Council has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, stressing the need for urgent reform of national legislation governing Tenant Management Organisations, arguing that the current laws significantly constrain the council’s ability to take decisive action.
Cllr Danny Adilypour, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, Investment and New Homes, said:
“The voices of residents on Loughborough Estate are continuously ignored by the Loughborough Estate Management Board and the council is doing everything in its power to tackle this head on, despite national legislation constraining our ability to act.
“While we are engaging with the government on the reforms needed to ensure local residents and councils can be empowered to tackle poorly performing TMOs, we’re also using every route we have available now to support residents and encourage LEMB to act in a way that improves the estate and ensures residents have a say about how their estate is managed.
“Holding an annual general meeting online is clearly not within the rules, and risks excluding residents from important discussions about improving their estate and ensuring transparency about how their rents and service charges are spent. This is the opposite of what tenant management organisations were set up to deliver, and we will continue to work with residents so their voices are heard.”
