Council pays £4k to family forced to stay in emergency accommodation for five months

An ombudsman report revealed mother and three kids were placed in B&B accommodation for “14 weeks longer than they should have been”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

A partially-sighted mother-of-three has been awarded nearly £4,000 in compensation by Haringey Council after being placed in emergency bed-and-breakfast (B&B) style accommodation for almost five months.

A report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman revealed the family had been placed in the B&B accommodation for 20 weeks “14 weeks longer than they should have been”.

The legal limit for housing families in such accomodation, which includes hotels and hostels, is six weeks. Councils are told by the government to only use it as a “last resort”.

Haringey Council’s cabinet member for housing and planning, Sarah Williams, said the civic centre would “absolutely learn lessons” and has apologised to the family.

The ombudsman reported that, after becoming homeless due to being evicted from their private accommodation, the family were placed in the B&B accommodation on 5th October 2023 and remained there until 20th February 2024.

The council accepted it was at fault and has paid the mother – referred to as Miss X – £200 for every week spent over the legal limit, totalling £2,800.

The watchdog based this figure on Miss X’s sight impairment, which would have made her circumstances more difficult, and her need to buy takeaway food for the family while living at the B&B accommodation, which had no cooking facilities.

The council was also told to reimburse Miss X £1,132 for furniture storage costs, as the family would not have incurred the amount if moved from the accommodation earlier.

This brought her total compensation to £3,932.

Miss X did request the council provide storage facilities leading up to her eviction but this provision was “suspended” and she was told to make her own arrangements.

Since 20th February 2024 the family has been placed in different temporary accommodation which has been judged to be “suitable” by the ombudsman.

In response, Cllr Williams said: “Despite our best efforts to move the family out of B&B accommodation within six weeks, like all London boroughs we are dealing with a serious homelessness crisis while our options for temporary housing are very limited.

“After 14 years of austerity by the previous government, we are doing what we can to pick up the pieces for thousands in need. We don’t want to be housing families in hotels – but we often have no choice.

“We have an extensive plan in place to help us address rising demand and shrinking supply, which includes building thousands of council homes for families in Haringey.

“I’m pleased that the matter has now been resolved, and the family are living in suitable accommodation.

“London’s housing crisis is deepening. The cost of temporary accommodation in the capital went up 68% last year. I cannot stress enough the enormity of the challenge in finding suitable homes for all our residents facing homelessness.”

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.