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Family left with faulty windows for 18 months in high-rise block awarded £3,400 compensation
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has criticised a west London council for leaving a young homeless family in a 10th floor flat with faulty windows for nearly 18 months.
The LGSCO said that Ealing Council had agreed the flat was unsuitable and had disrepair issues, which also included leaks, damp, mould and exposed electrical cables, when the family complained about the temporary accommodation in May 2021.
The council subsequently placed the family on its transfer list, but it was not until late October 2022 – some 17 months later – that the family was eventually moved to alternative accommodation.
As a result, the family complained about the council’s response and the ombudsman’s investigation found that Ealing was not properly recording the actions it was taking to secure alternative temporary accommodation, which means there was no audit trail for staff to refer to.
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In addition, the council could not demonstrate the action it took to find suitable accommodation for the family and was criticised for the delay.
Nigel Ellis, chief executive of the LGSCO, said: “While we are mindful of the difficulties councils face – particularly in London – in securing accommodation, councils must ensure that the accommodation they do provide is suitable.
“In this case, not only was the accommodation not suitable, it was beset with disrepair issues. The family have told me of their concerns for their children living in a high-rise flat with unsafe windows and exposed electrics.
“I am pleased the council has accepted my recommendations to remedy the situation for this family. It has told me there are 31 other households on its transfer list for temporary accommodation, so I have asked it to consider remedying any complaints of injustice to those other households, too.”
The ombudsman said the council has agreed to apologise to the family and pay them £3,400 to acknowledge the 17 months they lived in unsuitable accommodation with disrepair issues.
As part of the LGSCO’s learnings and recommendations process, the council will review its record-keeping procedures to develop a system of recording actions taken to find accommodation for individual applicants.
Ealing Council has been contacted for comment on the LGSCO decision, but its the second time in the space of a week the local authority has had to pay out compensation after a ruling.
The Housing Ombudsman made a severe maladministration ruling last week against Ealing Council after describing a nine-month delay in its complaint-handling as “undeniably unacceptable”.
The ombudsman said the outstanding repairs due to the delay left the vulnerable resident without redress and forced it to issue a complaint-handling failure order to get the council to respond.
In this case, the ombudsman ordered Ealing Council to pay the resident £1,225 in compensation.
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