Council ordered to pay mum’s rent in full after housing her in flat she couldn’t afford

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has been ordered to pay a mum’s rent after it housed her in a flat she couldn’t afford.

Lambeth council must apologise to the unnamed woman, who was threatened with eviction after it stopped covering her rent.

The local authority offered the woman – known as Miss X – the privately rented flat in 2020 because she was at risk of becoming homeless. She signed a two-year contract on the home in June 2020.

While Miss X didn’t receive enough in benefits to pay for the house, Lambeth council told her it would cover the £260 per week shortfall. But 11 months into her tenancy, the local authority stopped payments to her.

Unable to afford the full rent herself, she racked up huge debts to the landlord, who threatened to evict Miss X and her young child.

While Lambeth admitted it had made a mistake by telling the woman it would cover her rent shortfall, the council refused to help Miss X further.

The local government and social care ombudsman [LGO] – which deals with complaints about councils – ordered Lambeth to pay off Miss X’s debt to her landlord and pay her rent shortfall until the end of her contract.

Lambeth Council said: “The council fully accepts the LGO’s ruling in this case and will apologise to Miss X for shortcomings in the service she received from us.

“We had helped Miss X find private rented accommodation, but she was affected by the ‘benefit cap’ so Universal Credit did not cover the full rent.

“Miss X was wrongly advised that her rent would be paid in full, and we will honour that promise so she is not out of pocket.”

Pictured top: Lambeth Town Hall