London borough stands firm on refusal to follow recommendation of Ombudsman on treatment of homeless pregnant woman

Hounslow Council has decided not to accept a recommendation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) to offer a woman and her baby its next available suitable accommodation.

The LGSCO made the call because it found the council’s errors meant the complainant had missed out on a number of secure tenancies.

The woman first approached the council in May 2022 as she had been sofa surfing with friends.

The Ombudsman found that Hounslow, over the course of a few months:

• told her she was on the council’s top Band 0 list for a home, despite this banding not existing
• told her applying as homeless would reduce her chances of getting secure housing
• asked her to complete five separate questionnaires without being allocated a housing officer
• failed to respond to numerous requests for information
• told her that moving out of area would not affect her application, despite this then disqualifying her from its housing register, and leaving her unable to apply to the housing register in her new borough because she has not lived there long enough
• failed to deal properly with her subsequent complaints.

Additionally, the Ombudsman’s investigation into the woman’s complaint found the council failed to make an inquiry into her homelessness situation.

Had Hounslow assessed the woman’s homelessness application when it should have done, evidence shows it would have found she was “eligible, homeless, and in priority need”, it concluded.

This means that the council would have been duty-bound to provide her with interim accommodation immediately, but it did not.

The Ombudsman also found it likely the council would have accepted the main housing duty – and so provided her with temporary accommodation.

According to the LGSCO, Hounslow attempted to discourage the woman from applying for homelessness by providing incorrect information that led the woman to believe such an application would negatively impact her position on the list for a social housing tenancy.

The Ombudsman believes that the council did this to avoid its legal duties to the woman as a homeless person.

Finally, the investigation also found the council took 77 weeks too long to assess the woman’s housing application.

If it had considered her application in time, she would have been able to join the housing register and would not have missed out on several properties offered to people who applied after her.

The Ombudsman therefore recommended that the council should make the woman a direct offer of the next available two-bedroom property that meets her needs, to recognise the missed opportunity to be allocated permanent housing.

Despite the Ombudsman’s findings, the council has not agreed to this recommendation.

The council has, however, agreed to apologise and pay the woman a combined £3,750 to recognise the time she spent in unsuitable accommodation outside the borough and the distress and frustration caused by its failings.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Amerdeep Somal said: “Hounslow Council has left a vulnerable mother and her child without the security of knowing where she would call home at a particularly desperate time of her life. As a young pregnant person, she has been forced to sofa surf despite clear evidence the council owed her a duty.

“All the evidence shows that if Hounslow had acted correctly, the woman would have had the safety of a social tenancy when her child was born.

“I am disappointed that, by rejecting my recommendation to offer her the next suitable property it has available, the council is failing to fully accept the gravity its incorrect advice and practice has had on this woman and her child.”

Cllr Sue Sampson, Hounslow’s Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Homelessness, said: "We maintain that at all times in this case we acted legally and in line with housing policy. During the period in question Miss X secured her own accommodation outside the Borough. Our priority and responsibility around housing need is for people residing in Hounslow who cannot house themselves.

“We cannot accept all the Ombudsman’s recommendations in this case. The council does not accept that there is evidence that a homelessness application would have been successful, even had one been made. Homelessness applications are subject to rigorous assessment to ensure limited resources are allocated to those most in need.”

Harry Rodd