Westminster City Council has been housing families in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than the recommended legal limit of six weeks, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has found.

The law says that when families apply as homeless, councils should avoid using B&B accommodation. It also states that if there is no alternative, councils should leave families in B&B accommodation for no longer than six weeks.

The LGO was contacted separately by two women who claimed London Borough of Westminster left them in B&Bs for many months.

And, since starting the investigation, the LGO has received a further 38 complaints of a similar nature.

Investigations found that the women – one of whom had suffered previous domestic violence – had to share kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities with strangers.
Both women said that their children had suffered because of their length of stay in bed and breakfasts.

In response, the council recognised their duty but said it is seeing increasing numbers of people coming forward as homeless.

The council says it is working to put measures in place to increase the amount of housing available and stated that – from a peak of 170 families in February 2013 - by July no family had been in B&B accommodation for more than six weeks.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said:

“I am in no doubt that the council has taken seriously its obligations to the homeless and welcome what it has now done to get a grip on this problem.

“However the council had not complied with its statutory duties. Its failure to avoid the use of bed and breakfast for families in excess of six weeks has caused real injustice to those families. The families concerned have been deprived of suitable accommodation.”

The LGO has accepted the council’s offer to pay £500 to the two complainants to acknowledge that it was unable to provide self-contained accommodation after the initial six-week period and to pay an extra £500 for each additional six-week period.

The council will also provide a similar remedy to the other 38 people who have suffered a similar injustice.

Article date: 24 September 2013