Council criticised after heavily pregnant woman left to ‘sofa surf’

A homeless woman left to ‘sofa surf’ by London Borough of Hounslow while heavily pregnant and then after the birth of her child has now given permanent accommodation.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) said the woman was seven months pregnant when she was made homeless after falling out with her parents.

Instead of taking her homelessness application and offering her interim accommodation, officers at the council in May 2017 gave the woman a form and asked her to return with further documents.

The Ombudsman said she was told there was no accommodation in the area, and was offered the opportunity to move to Birmingham or Manchester, but she did not want to move away as she needed to attend hospital appointments because there were concerns about the baby.

The LGO investigation found that for the next 10 months, despite the woman making regular contact with Hounslow, particularly after her baby was born, the council left her to sleep on friends’ sofas.

The council asked her parents if they would accommodate her for six months on the condition the council would house her in Hounslow.

The council then argued that because the woman was living with her parents, she was no longer homeless or threatened with homelessness.

The Ombudsman’s investigation found the council at fault for not taking the homelessness application and for the poor quality of records kept on the woman’s case file.

Because the London borough did not take a homelessness application or give her a decision on her homelessness status, it denied the woman the right of review in court, the LGO added. “It still had not taken a homelessness application from her more than a year after she first approached the council.”

It was only after the Ombudsman started investigating, that the woman was offered - and accepted - permanent social housing.

Following the investigation Hounslow has agreed to:

• apologise and pay the woman £3,500 for the injustice it caused in the 10 months she was homeless
• review its procedures and tell the Ombudsman what action it will take to ensure it takes a homelessness application as soon as someone approaches it as homeless;
• tell the Ombudsman what action it will take to ensure it meets its legal duties to find accommodation for homeless applicants and provide evidence it is fulfilling its duties to homeless applicants who have approached it after 3 April 2017.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Hounslow council had a duty to take a homelessness application from this woman when she initially presented herself as homeless. She should not have been turned away – she was vulnerable as a heavily pregnant woman turned out of her parental home. The council should not have needed more proof.

“I welcome the council’s readiness to remedy the case and welcome its willingness to work with us to improve complaint handling going forward. I hope the lessons learned will ensure other vulnerable people will not be put into the same position as this woman in future.”