Overview:

Key to names used

• Miss X The complainant

Summary

Miss X complained about how the Council handled her housing application while she was pregnant and homeless. She says this meant she has lived in a property which is unsuitable for her and her child and has been waiting to be housed since 2022.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

To remedy the injustice caused to Miss X, we recommend that within four weeks of the date of this report, the Council:

• apologises to Miss X in line with our guidance on Making an effective apology;
• pays Miss X £1,000 to recognise the four months she unnecessarily spent sofa surfing;
• pays Miss X £2,250 to recognise the 15 months she spent in unsuitable accommodation outside the borough. We considered the specific circumstances and calculated the amount as £150 a month for 15 months from May 2023 to the end of August 2024;
• pays Miss X £250 to recognise the distress and frustration caused by the significant delay dealing with her review; and
• pays Miss X £250 to recognise the time and trouble caused by the poor handling of her complaint.

The Council has accepted these recommendations.

We also recommended that the Council makes Miss X a direct offer of the next available two-bedroom property that meets her needs to recognise the missed opportunity to be allocated permanent housing.

The Council has not agreed to this recommendation.

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