Domestic abuse survivor attacked after Kensington and Chelsea council denied her money for rent

A domestic abuse survivor was denied cash and told to “get a job” by council staff – leading to her being attacked again.

Council staff have had to retrain after the incident, an investigation by the Local Democracy Reporting Service has shown.

Yasmin Ali* was forced to contact her abuser after she received no financial support from Kensington and Chelsea council (RBKC) staff, and was put in a flat she could not pay for.

Despite fleeing from domestic violence Yasmin was told to work or face being evicted.

Yasmin could now be taken to court over unpaid rent after she did not receive financial support from the council to help her and her three-year-old daughter escape an abuser.

The council initially housed Yasmin in North West London, but she had to be moved as the area was deemed unsafe.

Yasmin said: “They even tried putting me in an area right next to my ex’s family.

“I contacted my housing officer and they said you have got to go back to work or we will move you.”

Yasmin was then placed at an address in North London but a mishap led to her being charged £1,585 in rent when her accommodation was meant to be covered by Universal Credit payments.

The mother did not receive any Universal Credit and was left to pay the rent from her own pocket.

Placed in a desperate situation and unable to repay her rent, Yasmin contacted her attacker – putting herself and her daughter at risk.

Yasmin said: “I had a mental breakdown. I reached back to the perpetrator. I was in a very violent relationship.

“He smashed up the house and beat me up. I had to be moved as soon as possible.”

After reaching out to her abuser, Yasmin’s emergency housing was left with a broken window, damaged furniture and drawing on the walls.

Emails between council homeless staff and Yasmin, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, reveal staff involved in her case will be retrained to better handle similar cases.

In the emails, a council staff member tells Yasmin: “You should not have been placed into a situation of this nature and I’m truly sorry that you felt that there was no alternative, but to take this action.

“I will be ensuring that all staff involved with your case attend refresher training.

“There are significant improvements that need to be made in regard to communication and the lack of consideration to what you were going through during this time.”

A RBKC council spokesperson said: “We cannot comment on an individual’s case but we want to reassure anyone experiencing domestic abuse that we will do all we can to help you get to safety.

“You should always call 999 in an emergency or the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.

“We have recently renewed our complaints process to make it quicker and easier for our residents to use. If we find that we have fallen short of the high standards we set ourselves, we work with residents to find a solution and ensure that our officers are able to learn any lessons to apply to future cases.”

The Angelou Project is in place to help women fleeing domestic violence in South West London.

You can contact Angelou on 0808 801 0660 and find more information here.

*This name has been changed to protect the identity of the victim.