Lewisham council has agreed to pay a mother more than £14,000 after it left her in such poorly maintained temporary accommodation that it hospitalised her child.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was asked to investigate after the mother claimed the council failed to meet its homelessness duties to her for two years.

The mother told the Ombudsman the ordeal worsened her existing physical and mental health problems and one of her children has lasting health conditions caused by the poor living conditions. The family were moved between unsuitable properties at least ten times within four months, all while she was heavily pregnant.

When the mother asked the council for help with her homelessness, it failed to consider the family’s agreed needs, which meant the accommodation it offered them was unsuitable. This included a property the mother could not access due to her mobility needs and a lack of lift access, and two others away from the borough and her support network, firstly when she was pregnant and then when she had a newborn baby.

After the council placed the family in a property it considered to be suitable, the mother asked it to review the suitability, but it failed to respond. The mother also reported broken lifts, and a leak which the council failed to address, leading to issues with damp and mould.

Two months later the situation was so bad when an officer visited, the family was told they needed to move out immediately. They were placed in alternative accommodation while the issues were fixed, at which point the council failed to protect the family’s belongings from damp and mould damage.

The council then wrongly told the mother she had to return to the same property because the damp was fixed. However, it had already decided without telling her that the property was not suitable for her mobility needs.

Not long after the family returned to the unsuitable property, the youngest child was hospitalised due to mould spores. The council moved the family to unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for three months, which is longer than the law allows, until they were found new temporary accommodation in August 2023.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found fault with the way the council handled the mother’s homelessness application. It also failed to properly consider her priority on its housing register for permanent social housing. This meant the family lived in unsuitable accommodation for two years. They also faced continued instability, with frequent short term moves between multiple bed and breakfasts, often with no notice.

Additionally, the council failed to consider or respond to the mother’s concerns about accommodation being close to a perpetrator of domestic abuse towards her. It also failed to properly consider the mother’s human rights, or its duties to her under The Equality Act. She was a disabled person who was pregnant during the period complained about.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal said:

“I was appalled by what has gone on here. This mother and her children have had two horrendous years, being bounced around different accommodation by London Borough of Lewisham.

“She has told us of repeated instances where she did not know where she would be staying from one night to another, and on one occasion she and her children had to sleep in her car because the council did not tell her where to go until late at night.

“In all the family were moved between accommodation around 20 times, including stays in hotels without cots or facilities to prepare milk for the baby, and in one case they were exposed to a dangerous police incident.

“One property was so riddled with damp and mould that her youngest child was hospitalised. This is no way for anyone to live, let alone a woman with small children.

“I am pleased the council has held its hands up to what has gone wrong here and accepted my recommendations to put things right.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise and pay the mother £14,150 for the unsuitable accommodation, and distress caused by the council’s actions.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will produce an action plan to address the faults found by the Ombudsman. It will also produce a summary of the faults identified in the case and share with all relevant staff.

Article date: 31 July 2024