Family living in cramped accommodation to have their housing needs reviewed following investigation

A family, which was left to live in a cramped, unsuitable home for more than two years by Isle of Wight Council, should have their housing needs reviewed, following a report by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).

The family of five had been registered on Isle of Wight Council’s housing register for a move to a four bedroom property since May 2007. At the time the family consisted of a father and four children aged between 13 and seven living in suitable temporary accommodation.

In 2010 council officers, with the help of a housing association, found a smaller four-bedroom property as permanent accommodation for the family. The family felt they had to accept the property, despite one of the bedrooms being too small and the property being too far away from the children’s schools, in an area mostly occupied by older people.

The council did not send the family a letter advising it of its right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation they were offered, and when a law centre took up the case the council investigated and accepted the property was too small and agreed to reinstate the family’s housing application and treat the property as temporary.

Throughout this time the youngest daughter has had to sleep in a bedroom which by law is too small.

The family has not been offered anything larger since and is still waiting for suitable permanent accommodation.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman said:

“The family was moved from a suitable temporary home into accommodation which meant that they were overcrowded, and away from their usual social ties. The children had to move school and their elderly neighbours made complaints about the children playing outside.

“I find that the move has caused the family serious injustice. Officers should have checked the suitability of the home before offering it.

“It is no defence for the council to say it relied on what it was told by the housing association.”

The LGO investigation found the council was at fault for offering the family a property which did not comply with its own policies. The council was also at fault for not checking the details of the home offered on its behalf by the housing association to ensure it met with its overcrowding policy.

The council has now agreed to provide guidance to its housing officers about overcrowding rules and ensure that their knowledge and practice in this area is up to date.

The council has also been recommended to review the family’s housing situation as quickly as possible, and offer the family £1,000 in acknowledgement of the distress and frustration caused by living in the unsuitable accommodation for two years longer than they needed, and the time and trouble it has taken in bringing this complaint to the ombudsman.

Article date: 30 January 2014

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