Ealing council wrongly turned away a pregnant woman who approached it for help with housing, despite police and other agencies saying it was not safe for her to return to her tenancy in another area.

The woman had suffered domestic abuse and harassment at the hands of her former partner, and was sofa-surfing with family in Ealing, when she approached the council for help.

But despite having family support in the area, and the fact the police, her midwife and an independent domestic violence advisor raised concerns about the risk to the woman and her unborn child, the council decided she did not meet its criteria for help.

The council decided there were ‘no special circumstances’ to exempt her from meeting its local residency criteria to enable her to join the housing register.

The woman appealed the council’s decision, but it remained firm that it was correct.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was asked to investigate. It found the council used an outdated, narrow definition of domestic abuse, limiting it to physical attacks. This is contrary to the legal definition that includes non-physical abuse, including psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour, which came into force in 2021.

The Ombudsman also found the council disregarded information that the ex-partner had kicked in the woman’s door, because the police took no further action to prosecute the partner. Instead of relying on the lower ‘balance of probabilities’ standard of proof it should do when making decisions, the council instead applied the higher ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ standard of proof used in a legal criminal case, which was completely wrong.

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

“This case demonstrates a clear lack of understanding within the council’s housing department of what constitutes domestic abuse, as defined by law. The idea that domestic abuse is limited to physical violence is outdated. This lack of knowledge could potentially have affected other vulnerable people in the council’s area.

“It failed to even investigate whether it owed her a duty to house her, or to offer her interim accommodation. Instead, it left a pregnant woman to sofa-surf with family.

“This woman had the additional distress and indignity of giving birth not knowing where she and her baby would live.

“I hope the measures the council has agreed to put in place will ensure other vulnerable people who have suffered domestic abuse do not have their experiences discounted in future.”

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 to the woman, review her homelessness status, and review her application to its housing register. It will also pay her £1,000 to recognise the significant distress she endured.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will provide training and guidance on domestic abuse to those staff involved in the homelessness and housing process.

Article date: 05 September 2024