Council agrees to re-house disabled woman after Ombudsman investigation
A London borough has agreed to re-house a disabled woman and her family after errors were made in processing her housing application.
The woman (Mrs K) had been living in a third floor flat. She complained to the Local Government Ombudsman that Haringey Council failed properly to assess her priority for housing based on her medical need when she approached officers for more suitable accommodation.
Mrs K also complained that Haringey gave priority to housing people living in temporary accommodation over those in permanent, but unsuitable, accommodation.
The background to the case was that the complainant had suffered a number of strokes which left her with mobility problems; she could not use the stairs and there was no lift in the block of flats.
At one point thieves stole her wheelchair because it was too heavy for her husband to carry up the stairs. Mrs K was left housebound, feeling isolated and unable to wash properly without her husband’s help, the LGO said.
Mrs K approached Haringey in February 2014 and was given a low priority, so she sent officers further medical evidence in support of her application. This further evidence was finally considered by a medical advisor in December 2015 after the council had mislaid some of it, according to the Ombudsman.
Haringey did not act on the medical advisor’s recommendations until March 2016 when the LGO became involved. The council then placed the woman in its top banding, backdated to July 2015.
According to the Ombudsman, the council said the average time to be rehoused for people in the top two priority bands was more than seven years.
“The LGO believes this information to be misleading and wrong – the average wait time in the council’s area for a two bedroom property for people in the top priority banding was 15 months,” the Ombudsman said.
The LGO investigation found that Mrs K had been left housebound and at risk for six months longer than she should have been.
It said she had made 69 bids for properties between September 2015 and March 2016; the investigation found the woman potentially missed out on 57 properties to people with either a lower priority banding, or a later effective date than her.
In addition to re-housing Mrs K, Haringey has agreed to apologise to her and pay £2,100 to acknowledge the difficulties and injustice caused to her by the faults.
The council will also ensure there is no unnecessary delay carrying out further adaptations recommended by an occupational therapist to her new property.
Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “As highlighted in our Focus Report earlier this year, we continue to see a rise in complaints about the way councils have dealt with housing applications.
“This case is a further example of the need for councils to carefully consider all relevant information so that housing needs can be properly assessed.
"I am pleased to hear that the family now have a new home and the council has agreed to my recommendations to carry out any further adaptations they might need.”
