Phoenix Community Housing
3.5(27)Catford South, Lewisham, London • NICEIC
Reviews
3.5
Many customers report severe delays and unresolved maintenance issues, including persistent damp, pest infestations, broken boilers, and plumbing blockages. Reviews also highlight poor communication from administrative staff, missed appointments, and lengthy complaint procedures. Conversely, several residents praise specific tradespeople for delivering clean, high-quality repair work and note that frontline call handlers can be helpful.
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I’ve been dealing with a rat infestation in my property for several years, and my experience with Phoenix Community Housing as a landlord has been extremely disappointing. I went through Stage 1 and Stage 2 of their complaints process. While Stage 1 communication was reasonable, Stage 2 was very poor — long delays, no meaningful discussion with the investigator, missed deadlines, and key issues left unanswered. Compensation was only paid after repeated chasing, and even then it was initially not processed at all. The main and ongoing issue is that the source of the rat ingress has never been properly investigated. This is not just my personal view. Both Lewisham Council pest control and Thames Water have indicated that an ongoing problem of this nature is likely coming from beneath the property, rather than just the loft or walls, and that the relevant pipework should be properly investigated. Despite this, Phoenix arranged contractors who, instead of CCTV-inspecting the correct pipework under the house, concreted over the area, preventing proper inspection. This has left serious questions unanswered and does nothing to rule out cracked, leaking or damaged pipes or ongoing entry points. The root cause has still not been properly identified or fixed. When the inspector attended to carry out the loft inspection, he did not actually inspect the loft. He briefly looked up and said there was too much insulation and that another appointment would need to be arranged for clearance before he could proceed. I am still waiting for that to be arranged. This is particularly frustrating given that pest control have previously been able to access the loft, yet a proper inspection by the landlord still hasn’t happened. I also raised the issue of the area being concreted over, and was told that if something was found underneath the property it might mean lifting my laminate flooring. That response says everything — instead of properly investigating the cause, the focus seems to be on avoiding the work that might actually be needed. I’ve had to deal with rats not just in the walls and loft, but inside my living spaces as well. They chewed through the wiring in my fridge, which meant I had to replace it at my own cost. I have filled some areas myself, and Phoenix have also filled some areas and even taken down and replaced part of my ceiling — but only after persistent chasing, repeated complaints, and even turning up at their office. None of this was proactive. It took months of pushing just to get basic action. Even now, this all feels like temporary patching rather than a proper solution — it’s only a matter of time before they chew back through into the living areas if the root cause isn’t properly dealt with. Council pest control only puts down poison, which leads to rats dying in the structure and then fly infestations, so I’ve had to buy and manage my own traps to avoid making the situation worse. Even now, the issue is not truly resolved — only partially managed. Phoenix may be good at community events and social initiatives, but as a landlord responsible for maintaining safe and habitable homes, my experience has been extremely poor. Problems have been covered over instead of properly investigated, and I’ve had to fight for basic accountability every step of the way. This has been exhausting, stressful, and completely avoidable if the issue had been properly dealt with from the start.
I don't really do reviews, I've literally made this account just to warn people how utterly useless phoenix are. 3 times we have done their consent form and 3 times they have failed to file it. So the only person in the household who can request a repair is the one person who's too unwell to contact them and as a result. None of the double glazing windows seal. The back door is coming off of the hinges. The sealant around the sink in the kitchen has dissolved. The kitchen worktop has bubbled up. (probably due to the lack of sealant) The kitchen units are 20+ years old with bits falling off. The toilet footing (screws, base) is loose from the ground. The cistern leaks. You can't lock the toilet window as the handle is wrong. Bath panel is falling off. Mould everywhere. (Yes we clean it, just comes back) I have the heating on constantly from around Nov to March and still the place is mouldy. When you use the washing machine all the water backs up into the kitchen sink and you have to bail out the water into a bucket. When you use the sink all the water ends up in the washing machine, then you have to run the washing machine to pump the water back into the sink so you can remove it. It is water mixed with whatever's in the pipes so it's like brown and black sludge. Manually bailing this out of the sink and phoenix say it's not affecting sanitation so have said they can send someone out in 2 weeks. This does seem to adhere to, Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which says, such blockages should be fixed within a reasonable time frame and states that 5-7 days for slowly working sinks as an acceptable amount. Yet there is a surveyor that signs off these properties yearly. Utterly disgraceful company. They don't even ask you what the repair is, their first concern is, do you have consent to make a repair? A repair that could stop someone getting hurt or another persons property being damage? Oh no you don't have consent, bye. How is it legal to put people in danger like this.
I will not stop complaining about why me and my son who were decanted last September 2025, have not been moved out of this property that has been deemed uninhabitable. Theflat has cracks everywhere, subsidence, air coming through the window panes, many windows do not shut, none in my sons room, have to put cling film, up still not affective. Living on dangerously cold flat. Failure to protect our health and safety. You have a legal responsibility to ensure our living conditions are safe. Failure to reply to pre court warning Shaun Carr head of homes. As a result I am filing a case at court against Phoenix Housing! You are incompetent and endangering me and my sons life!
All staff very helpful & friendly. The cafe inside is great & when they have evens all was good.
I have been a Phoenix Housing tenant for 15 years and I have never experienced such negligence. My home has been infested with mice for nearly two years — they are everywhere: in my bedhead, inside my shoes, running across my kitchen counters, and the smell is constant. I keep my home spotless, yet I’m being forced to live like this while paying full rent. We’ve been told a downstairs neighbour sleeps among the mice, and our block doors are constantly left open, making it worse. Phoenix Housing is fully aware of all this and still does nothing. This is a clear failure of duty of care and basic housing standards. I am now taking this further — environmental health, my local councillor, solicitor, and court action if necessary.
My ceiling was repaired by Guy, Carl and Camron and the service from start to finish was exceptional. They were friendly, professional, kept my home clean after the works and repaired both ceilings beautifully! The are an asset to Phoenix and I hope they are treated well. Also Joseph Kimani - housing officer, Joanna Scott and Juliet Olusegun from complaints team are amazing too.
Spoke to Aaron to arrange support for my deaf friend involving a secondary party. He was very friendly and helpful. Thank you !
Reported loose floorboards, did not have to wait too long for the appointment Warren Richardson the Carpenter came to do the job. Very pleasant and polite man. Explained every step that he was doing and why. An asset to the company.
I have received at £100 parking ticket for waiting a few minutes in the car briefly in one of their estates for my young daughter. This can be easily cancelled by the owner of the contract (phoenix), but they were not interested.
I am a Phoenix tenant who has been having sewer problems since the day I moved into this building. Every day I have to call the emergency department to come fix the problem. Every other day we have sewer problems in this building and every time they sends someone to fix the problem but they can't fix the whole problem. Not only me but all the tenants in this building are having this problem and for the past two weeks now we have not been able to use the kitchen sink, washing machine, shower or bathtub in my apartment. The smell of sewage has taken over the whole house and it is hard for us to bear. I am a single mother with two children who have back problems and can barely move. Today one of the Phoenix employees said that they can't do anything until Monday and I have to use the bathtub to wash dishes and clothes and empty the water in the toilet! They didn't care when I said i have a disability. It's really embarrassing!
Pheonix have no interest in anti social behaviour despite having multiple complaints by multiple residents ( yes we do talk to each other) over multiple years. They say they have not received other complaints when we know full well they have. Perhaps they may remember when the complaints are taken to the media. There are so many other issues with their properties mould being one of them!!
We have been contacted Phoenix for over 10 days now as in our block there is not supply of water. Once Thames water has established that this is Phoenix responsibility not improvements have been made except from sending us bottles of water. It's 10 days with not hot water, can't even flash the toilet! Shame on you Phoenix that you are not able to support the people who are paying you for that!
If I could give them lower stars I would. Just a horrid housing association. There's not enough space to list whats wrong. Endangering tenants, constantly lying about literally everything. Trying to pretend not to have legal responsibilities where they do. Really bad people to house with, if you have a choice don't That said the people answering the phones are the nicest and most understanding people and if phoenix wasn't so terrible they would make up for all of the bad. Shoutout to Donna for calming me down from a panic attack and showing that phoenix do actually care about their disabled and vulnerable tenants. I wish people like her were in charge
I went to get a replacement fob. I wad told on the phone that it could take up to 5 working days to get one. When I went to their offices I was told it could be working that day or maybe the next day. 15 days later and it still wasn't working. It took 4 more trips to their offices to finally have it working. I tried to call them a couple of times but after waiting for more than 10 minutes each time, I gave up. Their staff don't seem to know what information to give out or what they're talking about. Rubbish. I gave 3 stars because the last man actually told me that it would be working this time, and it did.
Hello everybody I Ben livening in Bellingham for over 6 years am under phoenix housing. I was living alone In April my family coming to live with me. phoenix are refusing to add them to my address. my kids are going to school. and we are 5 person me and my wife and my 3 kids the older one is 6 years old younger one 4. and. A baby she is 9 months old. We all live in one. Bed room house. can please anyone give me advice what to do with phoenix and the house is in very poor condition
They’ve honestly been great. I’m blessed to have them as landlords. They are a huge provider of housing, but they’ve always been super responsive in repairs. One star knocked off only as a new hire had done sloppy tiling, but it was rectified immediately, and I have a dinky stick and wire fence,but that’s pretty minor. I feel like they are a really wonderful extension of a nice community and they contribute so much to this. Staff are all absolute gems. These are 100 year old plus housing stocks they must maintain, so kudos to them for being so on top of the works. As a lifetime tenant you are responsible for the cosmetic upgrades ,bells and whistles, white goods, flooring, furniture. It’s important to note before you move in you will be responsible for new flooring and white goods, furniture. 2024: Again I must say how lovely the call handler is on the main number. What an absolute gem, very kind, listens empathically, and follows up. She really helped me with a stressful access situation around disability. Thank You for that!
Worst customer services experience since Jim Ripley left the organisation. They are not even worthy of any stars in my opinion and if l could post with no stars l would. Staff are rude, abrupt, threatening, unprofessional, lack, empathy, no communication skills and repairs service is non existence. Yet their unprofessionalism is supported by senior management .You have to wait weeks for repairs to be completed and when it's completed it's sub standard and not fit for purpose. Staff are not responsive and the new chief executive only responds to emails when she threatened with action. This organisation has gone down the pan since Jim Ripley's departure. Lots of good staff has left like Jim Humm since the chief executive has been in post. It's just a matter of time before this organisation is put under special measures or taken over by a larger housing association. Bring back Jim Ripley 😢 😫
Very disappointed. I’ve had an ongoing problem with my shower not working it’s been almost 3 weeks I’ve been told it’s not an emergency. I rang for update and the person who answered the call (who was a male) spoke so rudely to me not sure why. Having children under 5 crying their eyes out having a bath in the sink has been difficult but I’m doing all that I can from my side it’s a shame really we pay full rent on time and this is how things get dealt with.
Imagine living in your home for 20 years and being told by Phoenix the 'lead tenant' in your home needs to report an issue with electrics tripping and buzzing which is a hazard. I understand this for general repairs but this shouldn't be the case for electrical and gas issues. I can't even remember the last time we had an EICR done.. Is this how good tenants should be treated and does the same apply if the electrics were to cause a fire, would we still need to wait for the lead tenant then? Please don't rent with Phoenix, if you have a gas leak, they'll tell you to wait for the lead tenant to return home before reporting...
Sometimes they were good, but when I had mould inspector over I had to wait for 5 months until someone came to clean it and do the vent, we cleaned all mould ourselves by that time. Then in may after stripping wallpapers in the hallway, we discovered disgusting mould underneath, crumbling plasterboard and large cracks, so the inspector came said it all needs to be cleaned and re plastered asap, it is July now and we are still waiting. Usually we do repairs ourselves, but this job is too much, we cleaned the mould ourselves but some of it is not going, so it is just like that. This whole thing makes me feel very sad. Not good. Update on 25/08/2023 they finally sent plasterers and they did the job last week. And today they even send radiators inspectors (the job I reported back in February) and they came and checked and they are coming on 18th of September. So I am happy. And grateful.
Still waiting for work to be carried out in the garden so it can be accessed nearly a year later since first reporting. Waited over 6 months for two doors to be fitted as no one knew what should be done or how to do it, A year ago the boiler broke and waited 7 days without heating or hot water, how is that legal? Still waiting for replacement floor in kitchen that’s 3 months waiting. And I have to chase everything, communication is appalling between departments. And time is wasted and they should consider people do have jobs, when they finally do book appointments to attend. In summery be prepared to keep calling keep chasing and be prepared that it will take months for things to be repaired etc
Has taken them 4 months to get back to me and then they called on a number I never used to contact them on, so now I have to contact them once again. The whole office, admin & housing officer part of their business seems just as chaotic as the repairs service. Repairs are done to a very low standard, people turn up then leave and never return for months without having done anything. Phoenix then say they don't have any history on file for any repairs to be done so you MUST make a record of these things in the event you need to take them to court and claim against them. They are time wasters with low skilled works persons doing bodge jobs.
My boiler broke down for the 4th time and was reported on the 05/12/2022 but a part was ordered and would be available the next day but apparently that cannot attend until the 15/12/2022 10 days later. This has been ongoing since October. There customer service is disgusting and their complaints department are a waste of space.
Absolute rubbish service. Tell me why every appointment I have to take a day off of my holidays for these clowns. Also they have just done a gas check three months back to check I don't have any and now I'm being harassed again about an appointment to check my NON EXISTENT gas supply. They ask me after six months of service how they are doing, you are doing rubbis that's how you are doing!!
We're not allowed to dry our washing on the balcony because it's a fire hazard? Our flats have been designed (in the 40s) with ventilation in mind so drying clothes in a flat made in a hurry after the war to house soldiers, that already suffers with damp is totally fine according to Phoenix. They are a business, it's clear to see from their practices. They try to make money off of you at any given opportunity. Inquired about having some electrical work done in the bathroom, £359 Phoenix wanted but I was quoted £160-£250, supplied and fitted by local electrician with 5 star rating with 90+ google reviews. Waiting for compensation from Phoenix for wasting my time, taking time off work to wait for workmen on many occasions, the job didn't even get done in the end. All has gone quiet and this was maybe 3 months ago now, same thing for regarding other issues, sent 10+ emails and spoke to them 3 times via the phone but 2 months later no updates. Most of the residents I speak to do not say anything good about Phoenix. Very slow to respond and help. Have paid rent with them for 10+ years, never missed a payment but when you need help from them they shy away full of excuses.
THE WORST! I went from L&Q to Phoenix and they are just as bad as eachother. My boiler is not working so I have no gas and no heating in the property! It is freezing as he are at the peak of the winter right now! Spoke to the emergency hours last night and they advised a gas engineer will call me in the morning to arrange an appointment! No one called so I had to chase. Spoke to a lady called Dee, she was very rude and had no empathy and said nothing was logged! Dee told me the boiler not working is not a urgent matter? Having a 2 years old daughter and no access to hot water or heating in winter is not a priority? She said I will get a phone call but the gas engineer may not attend today. I got a text confirming an appointment on 17th February. Baring in mind today is 10th. So I have to wait 7 days with no hot water and heating! I had tears in my eyes, I called up again begging for someone to attend and I spoke to Chloe, she advised that I do not fit the criteria for a gas engineer to attend ‘because I have a 2 year old child and my child needs to be UNDER 2 years old???’ (Read that last sentence again) I can’t make this up! I’m shaking right now knowing that I have no hot water or heating for 7 days and my house is freezing! I don’t have family I can’t stay with, I can’t efford this. I’m even shaking righting this email. My anxiety is raging!! This is the first time reporting a issue or having any communication with Phoenix as they took over my area in November and this is the WORST experience! Talking to customer service is like talking to brick wall . This has really upset me and put my mood down. If your ever thinking of using Phoenix! Don’t do it! This company are a bunch of cowboys!
I've been a Phoenix resident since October 2012 and my overall experience has been an awful one! We shouldn't have ever been offered the place to begin with. The bathroom had no wash hand basin (& still doesn't to this day). There was a disabled bath which wasn't conducive for my families needs. They eventually took it out after my Autistic son kept flooding the bathroom & kitchen. My son has complex needs and recently got diagnosed with ADHD too. The 2 bedroom house is far too small for my 11 year old son & 15 year old daughter's needs. My daughter now spends a lot of time at my parents place because she struggles with sharing a room with her brother and school work, it's breaking our family up. I emailed Martin Stanislaus in November 2020 enquiring why I could no longer bid for 3 bedroom properties with gardens and got no response. I've complained in May 2021 and got no reply until I chased it up in July. My complaint involved Martin Stanislaus and Jeffrey Williams yet a conflict of interest occured with Martin writing back to me and not even acknowledging the complaint from May 2021 but the update from July. I feel let down and feel my son's needs are not being put into consideration. It's morally wrong and very discriminating. It's affecting my mental health. I'm taking my complaint further and might even get advice from the Housing Ombudsman Service.
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