Council failed to properly consider capacity of household to make homelessness application, Ombudsman finds
The London Borough of Redbridge has been recommended to pay £6,950 by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after it failed to properly assess the capacity of three family members to make a homelessness application when they told the council they were suffering domestic abuse.
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The Ombudsman found the council did not deal with the safeguarding referral “appropriately or in good time” and did not offer the family social care needs assessments soon enough.
The man behind the complaint, Mr B, complained on behalf of his father, Mr X, his mother, Mrs Y, and his brother, Mr K, that the council failed to deal with their housing situation properly, offer care and support, or complete a safeguarding enquiry adequately or in good time.
In particular, he said the council:
- refused to make a homelessness application on the basis that one of the household did not have capacity, without a proper mental capacity assessment of all members of the household, and without explaining which member they considered lacked capacity;
- took too long to start a safeguarding enquiry after the family had approached the council in November 2023, and then did not investigate the safeguarding issues properly;
- met with Mr X but did not explain it was going to do a Care Act assessment, nor what this was, and then said he had refused an assessment;
- offered Mr X and Mrs Y a one-bedroom property, but they are a household of three and want their vulnerable adult son included;
- failed to arrange an interpreter on several occasions; and
- took too long to deal with complaints made on their behalf.
Outlining the background to the case, the Ombudsman said: “Mr X and Mrs Y are married and live with their adult son, Mr K, and adult daughter, Ms W.
“Mr X is elderly and frail. He has very poor mobility. Mrs Y and Mr K both have significant long-term mental health conditions. They all live together in Ms W’s house.”
The complainant, Mr B, who is the other adult son, lives elsewhere.
In November 2023, Mr B went with Mrs Y and Mr K to the council. They and his father, Mr X, wanted help with housing because they said that Ms W was physically and verbally abusive to them. The Police had also attended a recent incident at the house.
However, the council decided that Mrs Y did not have capacity to make a homelessness application.
The Ombudsman observed: “The council has no record of the capacity assessment, what questions it asked, how it supported Mrs Y to understand the homelessness application, nor how it reached its decision. There is also no note as to why it did not assess Mr X or Mr K for capacity to make a homelessness application.”
On the same day, the council made an urgent referral to its adult social care service for support.
Mr B contacted the council again in December 2023. The council’s social care service told Mr B that the case would be allocated to a social worker for an assessment and safeguarding consideration.
The family heard no more from the council, so in April 2024, Mr B made a formal complaint.
The council acknowledged the complaint but did not reply, so on 17 June, Mr B asked the council to escalate the complaint to stage two of its process.
A week later, the council’s social care team contacted Mr B and said that it would assess Mr X’s care needs. The council also told Mr B that its domestic abuse service would investigate and provide its social care service with feedback.
However, the Ombudsman noted: “There is no evidence that the council completed the referral to the domestic abuse service, nor that the service investigated or provided feedback to social care.”
At the end of February 2025, the council offered Mr X and Mrs Y a one-bedroom property. Mr B told the council that his parents and his brother wanted to be housed together. However, they moved to the flat in March 2025.
The Ombudsman investigated and found that the council’s housing service “failed to consider that the family were suffering from domestic abuse”, meaning it did not properly consider its duty to offer interim accommodation where it had reason to believe the family was suffering domestic abuse.
Further, the council failed to support the alleged victims to outline the details of the abuse so that it could assess their housing need. It also failed to seek information from the Police about what had been happening.
The Ombudsman concluded: “The council did not deal with the safeguarding referral appropriately or in good time, and did not offer the family social care needs assessments soon enough. It cannot show how it made the decision to offer a one-bedroom property and it took too long to deal with the complaint to it. The family missed out on interim accommodation, and they were caused distress and uncertainty.”
To remedy the injustice caused, the Ombudsman recommended the council to:
- apologise to Mr X and Mrs Y, to Mr K, and Mr B;
- pay a total of £3,750 to Mr X and Mrs Y in recognition of the distress caused to them when the council failed to provide interim accommodation between November 2023 and February 2025 when they presented as homeless due to domestic abuse, and a total of £2,250 to Mr K;
- pay to Mr X and Mrs Y a symbolic payment of £500 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty the council caused;
- pay to Mr K a symbolic payment of £250 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty the council caused and the risk of harm it left him in when it took too long to act on the safeguarding referral;
- pay to Mr B a symbolic payment of £200 in recognition of the distress and frustration it caused him and the time and trouble it put him to when it took too long to deal with his complaints to it;
- review Mr X’s and Mrs Y’s housing needs with an interpreter if required and deal with any unmet need in accordance with the homelessness law and guidance, and with its own Housing Allocations policy without delay;
- offer a fresh Care Act assessment for Mr X and a carer’s assessment for Mrs Y, with an interpreter if required;
- refresh training for homelessness service staff on mental capacity assessments, including the need to record the assessment and the reasons for its conclusions properly;
- review how it monitors and ensures progress where a safeguarding referral is closed on the basis that the risk is managed by Care Act assessments.
The London Borough of Redbridge has been approached for comment.
Lottie Winson
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