Council to pay nearly £2,000 to woman left in 'unsuitable' housing for seven months

An ombudsman report highlighted delays in rehousing the resident as well as causing “avoidable distress”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council has been ordered to pay £1,750 to a woman who lived for seven months in unsuitable housing.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigated a complaint from a resident, referred to anonymously as ‘Miss X’ in a report.

Miss X had been placed in temporary accommodation by the council but, following a review of the property in January 2024, it was determined to be unsuitable due to disrepair.

In June that year, Miss X complained over a lack of response and the council eventually offered her alternative temporary accommodation in August, which was judged to be suitable.

Miss X also claimed she was eligible for a ‘direct let’ through the borough’s social housing register, when the council arranges a tenancy for a property without the resident going through the usual bidding process.

However, the council denied this, claiming her lack of housing requirements and area restrictions as well as her IT literacy as reasons for her not meeting the criteria.

The council stated she “does not need to move urgently given her current temporary accommodation is suitable and her circumstances while difficult are not exceptional”.

Letters were identified, sent by the council in April 2023, which show the council approving Miss X for auto-bidding but not a direct let. However, the council took responsibility for Miss X’s confusion, saying the communication lacked “clarity or specificity”.

On balance the watchdog agreed Miss X being approved for auto-bidding meant “she was not eligible for a direct let”.

The watchdog did find the council at fault for not completing a suitability review of the new property, despite the eventual positive outcome, within eight weeks of the review request. Instead the review of the new property wasn’t completed until May 2025.

This, along with the seven months Miss X lived in the unsuitable temporary housing, was determined as “avoidable distress” by the watchdog.

The ombudsman ordered the council to pay £1,750 and apologise to Miss X.

Sarah Williams, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and planning, said: “We take the findings from this report very seriously and have apologised for the mistakes made and distress it caused.

“We have taken steps to improve our processes as we learn lessons from this case, including increasing staffing levels to better manage demand and prevent similar delays in the future.

“Like all London boroughs, we are dealing with a serious homelessness crisis while our options for temporary accommodation are severely limited, but we remain fully committed to improving how we deal with these issues.

“We have an extensive plan in place to help us address the rising demand for genuinely affordable homes, which includes building thousands of council homes for local people in Haringey.”

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