London borough to pay £7,600 after leaving family in unsuitable accommodation for more than a year

In a report the Ombudsman said Redbridge Council should also provide the family with an apology.

The complainant was a member of the family who complained that the local authority did not offer her family suitable temporary accommodation after a review found their current accommodation was unsuitable.

She said the impact of the accommodation on the family was stressful due to the single room that the family was forced to share.

The complainant lives with her four children, some of whom are adults. She made a homeless application as her landlord served an eviction notice.

After this eviction, the family were given interim accommodation in three different hotels, in two rooms, from 11 January until 26 July 2023.

After the family complained, the council accepted that the accommodation in the third of these hotels was unsuitable on 26 June 2023 and moved the family into a different hotel.

On 27 July 2023 Redbridge accepted the main housing duty to the complainant, and she was then booked into a hostel (temporary accommodation) from 31 July 2023.

The complainant again sought a review of the suitability of the temporary accommodation on 7 August 2023. The review decided the accommodation was unsuitable on 4 January 2024, as the entire family was sharing one room.

The council offered temporary accommodation in a three-bedroom house outside London on 29 February, which was accepted.

The LGSCO said that while the complainant had now been relocated to suitable accommodation, the family had spent the period between 1 August 2023 and 1 March 2024 in unsuitable accommodation, and there was a 12-week delay in the council carrying out a suitability review.

The Ombudsman found that this amounted to fault.

The LGSCO’s report also noted that the family spent from 11 January until 1 August 2023 in bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation.

It highlighted how the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 2003 says B&B is not suitable for households with ‘family commitments’. “The Order defines this as a household that includes a dependent child, as Ms X’s household does. Where no other accommodation is available, the authority may place a family in B&B as a last resort but only for a maximum of six weeks.”

The Ombudsman again found fault, “as Ms X’s family was placed in B&B accommodation past the initial six weeks. The family was then placed in unsuitable accommodation.”

The Ombudsman recommended a remedy for the B&B accommodation fault of £4,800. The recommended remedy for the further eight months in accommodation that the council’s review found to be unsuitable, was £2,800.

In summary, the report said that, within one month of the date of the decision, the council should:

• apologise to the family.
• pay the complainant £7,600.
• provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Local Government Lawyer has approached Redbridge for comment.

Harry Rodd