A North London resident has been offered more than £2,000 in compensation after council delays completing housing and medical assessments “affected their mental health and finances”.
The council has “sincerely apologised” after the woman claimed the ordeal left her feeling “distressed and anxious”.
An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found that Brent Council was at fault for taking six months to process a resident’s housing application and three months to make a medical assessment. The council acknowledged that the delay meant the woman, referred to as Miss X, “might have missed out on a suitable property”, according to the report.
Miss X complained that the property she was living in was “unsuitable for medical reasons” and she could not afford it.
She claimed the delays made her “feel distressed and uncertain”, which had an impact on her mental health and finances resulting in her having to take time off work. The council has offered compensation totalling £2,050.
The LGO determined that delays making a decision about Miss X’s housing application and looking at her medical information had “caused injustice”. Miss X had applied for help with housing in the summer of 2023, however, it wasn’t until March 2024, after she lodged a complaint, that the council decided she was eligible for help.
Housing applications should be determined within eight weeks. The council said the six-month delay meant Miss X was distressed and may have missed out on a property that was suitable for her. The LGO said the “distress and uncertainty” was unnecessary and could have been avoided.
The council had said it would also assess the resident’s medical records in April, which it did not do and it failed to contact her or send out letters. In May, the local authority accepted that these were mistakes and offered Miss X £400 in compensation.
However, a few months later the council admitted that it did not look at her medical information between May and October 2024, but had now decided that she should be in a higher housing band. The council said that, if it had not delayed, it “would have decided earlier that her property was not suitable for medical reasons”, according to the report.
The council offered Miss X an additional £1,650 because the delays meant she was “distressed and anxious”. Despite this, the council said it did not think she had missed out on getting permanent housing between May and October because Miss X owed them rent and its policy states that it will not normally offer a new tenancy to people in arrears. This claim was refuted by the Ombudsman.
The investigator said: “I find the council was wrong to only use one part of its policy and not the other part. The other part says the council can offer a new tenancy to people who owe more than four weeks’ rent if they need to move urgently because of a medical problem.
“This was relevant in Miss X’s case. The council told me it had looked again at this decision because it did not think about the other part of its policy before. The council has now changed its mind and offered Miss X a property.”
Cabinet Member for Housing and Residents Services, Cllr Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, said: “We sincerely apologise to Miss X for the distress and uncertainty caused by the delays in processing her housing application and medical information. In recognition of the impact this has had, we have offered financial compensation.”
She added: “We have also reviewed our internal procedures and taken steps to strengthen them, to ensure that housing applications and medical assessments are handled promptly and in accordance with both legislation and council policy. Our priority remains to deliver timely, fair, and compassionate support to all residents in housing need.”
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
