The resident is said to have suffered “avoidable distress” after Enfield Council wrongly assessed her housing needs, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

A resident with “complex physical and mental health needs” will receive £3,250 in compensation from Enfield Council after the civic centre “failed” to provide suitable accommodation.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the council caused the resident – referred to anonymously as ‘Mrs B’ in its report – “avoidable distress” and wrongly assessed her housing needs.

In response a spokesperson said the council accepted the ombudsman’s findings, had apologised to the resident, and would “implement the recommendations made in the report”.

Mrs B was placed in temporary accommodation when she declared herself homeless in 2017 and joined the council’s housing register in 2018.

The following year the council reviewed the suitability of her temporary accommodation and decided it was unsuitable.

Mrs B remained living in the property until she moved into private rented accommodation in November 2021. The council then discharged its homeless duties.

Following a new housing allocation scheme introduced in December 2020, Mrs B was told in March 2021 she would be offered a “suitable” one-bedroom property, however due to her physical health needs, which included mobility issues, she required an additional bedroom for an overnight carer.

Mrs B told the council this in April 2021, and in July the council reassessed her needs and agreed she was eligible for a two-bedroom property and said the one-bedroom proposal was “auto-generated” and had been “issued in error”.

The watchdog found this a “fault” on the council’s part and said her needs should have been “reassessed” shortly after the new scheme came into effect.

Due to the error, Mrs B had been unable to bid for social housing advertised by the council between January and July. However the watchdog said, even if accurately assessed in a timely way, it was “unlikely” Mrs B would have been able to secure a two-bedroom property.

The new property Mrs B moved into in November was only meant to be on a short-term basis. In January 2023, Mrs B’s consultant psychiatrist wrote to the council that this property was affecting her mental health.

The watchdog stated between January and September 2021 the council could not provide evidence to show it had tried to move Mrs B into alternative temporary accommodation and properties sourced between September and October were judged “unsuitable”.

The privately rented property was sourced by Mrs B’s family and she asked for assistance in securing it, which the council at first refused, saying it could not act as her guarantor or cover the shortfall in rent long-term.

However, two weeks later, the council accepted guarantor responsibility and granted Mrs B’s application to have the rent shortfall covered.

The ombudsman considered the response initially put forward by the council “unhelpful” and said it would have caused “distress”.

In response to the ombudsman’s enquiries the council agreed to pay £2,750 to Mrs B to recognise the accommodation it provided between January and November 2021 was unsuitable. A payment of £500 has also been made to recognise the “avoidable distress” the council caused and review the way it records the allocation of temporary accommodation.

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