Council agrees to pay more than £14,000 after leaving mother in accommodation that hospitalised daughter

The LGSCO launched an investigation after the mother complained that the council had failed to meet its homelessness duties to her for two years.

The mother reported that the ordeal worsened her existing physical and mental health problems, and one of her children had lasting health conditions caused by the poor living conditions.

The family were moved between unsuitable properties at least ten times within four months, all while she was heavily pregnant.

The Ombudsman said Lewisham failed to consider the family’s agreed needs when allocating the accommodation, which meant the housing it offered them was unsuitable.

This included a property the mother could not access due to her mobility needs and a lack of lift access, and two others away from the borough and her support network during her pregnancy and then when she had a baby.

The family was forced to move out of their home due to damp and mould damage immediately after an inspection, and the council failed to protect their belongings from damp and mould damage.

The mother was wrongly told to return to the same property, but the council had already decided – without telling her – it was not suitable for her mobility needs.

Shortly after the family’s return to the property, the youngest child was hospitalised due to mould spores.

The family was moved to unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for three months, “which is longer than the law allows”, the Ombudsman noted. They were eventually found new temporary accommodation in August 2023.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found fault with the way the council handled the mother’s homelessness application. The council was judged to have failed to properly consider her priority on its housing register for permanent social housing. This meant the family lived in unsuitable accommodation for two years. “They also faced continued instability, with frequent short term moves between multiple bed and breakfasts, often with no notice.”

Additionally, Lewisham failed to consider or respond to the mother’s concerns about accommodation being close to a perpetrator of domestic abuse towards her.

It also failed to properly consider the mother’s human rights, or its duties to her under the Equality Act. She was a disabled person who was pregnant during the period complained about.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Amerdeep Somal said:  “I was appalled by what has gone on here. This mother and her children have had two horrendous years, being bounced around different accommodation by London Borough of Lewisham.

 “She has told us of repeated instances where she did not know where she would be staying from one night to another, and on one occasion she and her children had to sleep in her car because the council did not tell her where to go until late at night.”

Somal added: “In all the family were moved between accommodation around 20 times, including stays in hotels without cots or facilities to prepare milk for the baby, and in one case they were exposed to a dangerous police incident.

“One property was so riddled with damp and mould that her youngest child was hospitalised. This is no way for anyone to live, let alone a woman with small children."

Ms Somal acknowledged that Lewisham had admitted the errors and accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations to correct the wrongdoing.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said:

“We have accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendations in this case and apologise unreservedly to the resident and her family.

We expect our housing, whether managed directly by us or leased from the private sector, to be properly maintained, and we are sorry this was not the experience of this family.

Along with all London boroughs, we are facing an acute housing crisis and increasing challenges sourcing temporary accommodation. We are currently supporting more than 2,900 families and individuals in temporary accommodation and there are 11,000 households on our housing register waiting for permanent housing.

We are striving to improve the standards of temporary accommodation in the borough and continue building new homes as well as buying and refurbishing homes.”

Harry Rodd