Social housing tenants have moved a dreaded vote of no confidence in the body that manages the council's housing stock.

Members of the Sutton Federation of Tenants and Residents' Associations (SFTRA), an umbrella organisation covering residents' associations around the borough, passed a vote of no confidence in Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP) after members complained that repairs to their houses are not being carried out to their satisfaction.

SHP is a not-for-profit organisation that manages Sutton Council's housing stock and is charged is responsible for all day-to-day issues regarding the properties - including repairs and maintenance.

It has acknowledged shortcomings in its performance and pledged to work with its repairs contractor Rydor while Sutton Council has branded the situations "unacceptable".

SFTRA member Stuart Halden said: "We have had several meetings about the poor standard of the repair work and now we have moved a vote of no confidence in SHP.

"We would like to see the repair contract go elsewhere because the current state of affairs is not good enough.

"There are numerous examples of times when repairs either haven't happened or a botch-job has been done.

"In one example a washing line came down in a sheltered housing development. It was reported but wasn't fixed for two to three weeks.

"As soon as it was fixed it fell back down - closer inspection showed they just pulled it back upright.

"There are numerous other examples of poor performance, appointments not being kept and more."

A council spokesman said: "Sutton Council has emphasised to Sutton Housing Partnership the importance of addressing this unacceptable fall in the performance of their housing repairs contractor, and the urgent steps that they must take to improve the situation.

"We are very concerned that members of the Sutton Federation of Tenants and Residents Association lack confidence in the service and this makes it all the more important that the necessary improvements are made urgently and sustained.

SHP said it is working to improve performance. A spokesman added: "We acknowledge that the repairs and maintenance service is not currently being delivered to the standards we, and our residents, expect.

"We are closely managing the performance of the contractor, Rydon. Working together we have delivered some improvements but our priority is that residents see sustained and significant improvements in the quality of the repairs service as quickly as possible."