Disabled tenant had to pay for cook because Southwark took so long to sort out kitchen doorway

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A disabled woman was blocked from using her kitchen for almost a year due to council delays.

The unnamed Southwark council tenant was prevented from accessing the room for 11 months, while she waited for her kitchen doorway to be widened.

Despite being on a low income, the woman resorted to paying a cook to prepare her food during the period. The tenant’s case was highlighted in a Housing Ombudsman (HO) report published last Thursday, which focused on failures by social landlords in responding to people’s physical and mental needs.

The HO, a government body responsible for dealing with complaints about council landlords, said Southwark ‘did not demonstrate due regard for the resident’s vulnerabilities, or the duties placed on it as set out in the Equality Act 2010’.

It criticised the council’s poor communication, particularly its failure to explain delays to the woman despite her chasing staff on multiple occasions.

The HO added that the Labour-run council exceeded the government’s maximum 80 working days target for completing complex adaptations, which is set out in guidance on delivering disabled facilities.

At the time of the HO completing its investigation into the woman’s case, she was still living at the property. The planned adaptions ended up being cancelled after the council confirmed she wished to be rehoused instead.

Victor Chamberlain, Leader of Southwark’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said: “It does not take 11 months to simply widen a door – this is Labour once again failing on housing and not listening to residents.”

Other London local authority landlords exposed for failings in the HO’s report include Lambeth Council and Kingston upon Thames Council, in addition to several housing associations with properties in the capital.

Richard Blakeway, the Housing Ombudsman, said: “Callous and uncaring systems and processes are repeatedly exposed through these investigations. Time and again, these cases reveal communication that is unreliable, inconsistent and unsophisticated for the complexity of the circumstances.”

Southwark council has been approached for comment.

Pictured top: Southwark council HQ at Tooley Street (Picture: Google Street View)