A domestic abuse survivor was street homeless for five weeks, despite asking London Borough of Waltham Forest for help, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.

The man asked the council for help in late January and said he could no longer live with relatives who were abusing him. The council did not act, and the man again contacted the council in February, mentioning the domestic abuse.

The council did nothing to help the man until the middle of March, after the man’s representative threatened the council with legal action. It then offered the man hotel accommodation but did not act when the man said his abuser knew where he was staying, causing him distress.

The man also asked the council for help storing his belongings while he was homeless. But the council said it would not do this unless he paid them an upfront fee of £500 – money which he did not have. The man lost his possessions because he could not afford to pay.

During the period the man was in hotel accommodation, the council failed to confirm a hotel booking, meaning the man was again street homeless for three nights, during which time he said he was assaulted.

The Ombudsman’s investigation into the man’s complaint found the council failed to consider the man’s circumstances when he first approached it as homeless, and also failed to consider whether he was vulnerable as a result of the domestic abuse he suffered when he contacted it in February.  

The investigation also found the council could show no evidence of how it assessed the man’s hotel accommodation as suitable, and also criticised the council for the three-month delay in accepting it owed him the main housing duty.

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

“Waltham Forest council let this man down when he approached it for help. A meeting was arranged when he first contacted the council, but no officer called. He told me he had to make repeated requests for assistance before the council took action and it was not until the council was threatened with legal action that it did anything practical to help.

“This should not have happened, and I am pleased the council has acknowledged the gravity of its errors and accepted the recommendations I have made. I hope other survivors of domestic abuse will be treated better 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 man and pay him £1,600 to acknowledge his distress and time he spent street homeless, its failure to consider the risk posed by the man’s abuser and the delay accepting the main housing duty.

It will also consider the man’s request for a review of its decision to place him in band 3 on its housing register.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will remind officers of the low threshold for triggering its duty to offer interim accommodation to people at risk of homelessness and who may be vulnerable. It has agreed to create an action plan to reduce its delays in considering the main housing duty to people in its area. It will also review its policy on how it protects the property of homeless people to ensure it complies with the law.

Article date: 03 July 2025