Council fined after leaving homeless family in unsafe accommodation

Havering Council has agreed to pay more than £7,000 to a homeless mother after her family was left to live in unsafe housing.

She complained to the Housing Ombudsman earlier this year after struggling alone through a period of “prolonged uncertainty and distress”.

According to the arbitrator’s report, the mother – identified only as ‘Miss X’ – had been homeless since 2016 and was previously living in temporary accommodation in a different, unnamed London borough.

In March 2023, Havering Council agreed it would house the family within its borough, after a leaking wet room and rotted bathroom left her temporary home unsafe.

That same month, the council placed Miss X’s children on a child protection plan due to concerns about their welfare. One of the requirements was for the children to be housed somewhere “safe and stable”.

She was put on Havering’s housing register in April 2023, but heard nothing back once she was discharged from the other council’s responsibility in May.

Miss X is still stuck in the same home today. She repeatedly complained to the council about the conditions and its lack of action in securing her new accommodation.

In September 2023, a social worker wrote to the council’s housing department detailing the “extensive disrepair” and asking them for support.

The department tried calling her once when her phone was broken, and the ombudsman ruled it was at fault for “missing an opportunity to put things right and provide Miss X and her children with the support they needed”.

In August 2024, she found herself facing eviction. She says she was told by a Havering social worker to reject an offer of a home in the previous borough, but they then failed to provide evidence in court.

She approached the town hall that month, but officers made no further effort to contact her when she did not respond.

“In the circumstances, with the risk of homelessness and safeguarding concerns, this limited response was inadequate and was [a] fault,” the ombudsman report said. “It was another missed opportunity to assess Miss X’s situation and offer appropriate support.”

They added: “Between May 2023 and early 2025, Miss X and professionals supporting her made repeated efforts to contact the council.

The council often failed to respond or follow up. This poor communication was [a] fault and meant a vulnerable household went unsupported during a difficult time.”

When she approached the council again in October 2024, it accepted a duty to house her.

However, it failed to offer interim accommodation, assess Miss X’s needs properly – including locations unsafe due to domestic abuse – and ensure her and her children’s needs were reflected in their personal housing plan, the ombudsman said.

Through its failure to provide adequate support and information, she was also left navigating “complex legal and housing processes without appropriate support”.

“Despite knowing that Miss X faced possible eviction and major house insecurity, the children’s social care team did not escalate support or advocate effectively,” the adjudicator wrote. “Its involvement was largely limited to one letter.”

In a bid to remedy the injustice Miss X suffered, Havering was ordered to pay her £7,100. That divides into £6,300 to recognize her time spent in unsuitable accommodation; £500 to recognize the “avoidable distress” it caused; and £300 to acknowledge the trouble caused by its poor responses.

It will also pay her £300 a month until new accommodation is secured.

The payout comes at a poor financial time for the council, as it battles to balance its budget amid growing housing and social care pressures.

Havering Council was approached for comment.