Council left mum and child in temporary accommodation deemed unsafe for 19 months

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has been ordered to pay a mum £3,800 and another £200 every month until it moves her to a suitable home after she endured more than two years of living in temporary accommodation deemed unsafe.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said Kensington and Chelsea council had communicated poorly with the woman, known only as Miss X, that it was slow to act on the issues its own officers had spotted and failed to review the suitability of its accommodation.

The council has since agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £3,800 in compensation.

Miss X accused the council of ignoring her personal circumstances when it placed her far from her support networks and claimed the local authority failed to carry out a suitability review when she requested one. At the time of writing, Miss X remains living in the property.

The woman had been placed in an East London flat which Kensington and Chelsea council had been leasing from a managing agent.

In November 2022, Miss X complained to the council about ongoing damp, mould and disrepair in the property. The council told her to contact the managing agents directly.

A month later, Miss X escalated her complaint with the council. In February 2023, she was told by the managing agents she was responsible for clearing damp and mould and accused her of not ventilating the property properly.

In April 2023, the council apologised saying a ‘large level of staff absence’ in the temporary accommodation team had led to delays. 

In February 2024, the East London borough’s environmental health team inspected the property and identified the need to treat the mould, install appropriate ventilation, and to replace the kitchen door which did not meet fire safety standards.

The council provided the ombudsman a copy of Miss X’s suitability reassessment from July 2024.

The review found that her child had special needs, that the extent of damp and mould was affecting Miss X’s asthma, and that her ex-partner – who she was in the process of taking a non-molestation order against because he tried to kidnap the child previously – knew where she lived.

The ombudsman found the assessment had not been authorised and the final section, which focused on suitability of current accommodation, was left blank.

The ombudsman said it did not see any evidence suggesting the council considered whether the property was suitable for Miss X since her first complaint in 2022.

They said the agent should have checked if the property met fire safety requirements before letting it out.

They also said the case had a ‘striking resemblance’ to one involving a separate property but the same council and managing agents in October 2023.

Those findings included delays to completing repairs and poor communication between the council and the managing agents. The council at the time had agreed to discuss the findings with the managing agents, identify improvements, and monitor performance.

The recent ombudsman’s report said: “There does not appear to be any improvement by either the council or the managing agents. I have recommended a review of all properties currently used by the council as temporary accommodation with this managing agent to ensure they are safe and meet minimum standards.”

A Kensington and Chelsea council spokesperson said: “All residents deserve to live in good-quality housing, regardless of whether it’s temporary accommodation or a permanent home. We apologise for falling short of the service this resident deserved and have completed each of the actions agreed with the ombudsman.

“We are committed to being a caring and competent council and have used the learnings from this case to improve how we recognise and resolve disrepair. London is in the grip of a homelessness crisis and we have more than 2,100 households in temporary accommodation. The majority of those placements are in neighbouring boroughs or Greater London and we do everything we can to find homes in locations that best suit our residents’ circumstances.”

Pictured top: Kensington and Chelsea town hall (Picture: Hannah Neary)