'Distressed' woman offered £2k for housing delays

Brent Council took too long to consider a resident's housing application and make a medical assessment

Brent Council has offered £2,050 in compensation to a resident due to delays in completing housing and medical assessments.

The woman, named as Miss X, complained she could not afford the north London property she was living in and it was "unsuitable for medical reasons".

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found the council was at fault for taking six months to process the housing application and three months to make a medical assessment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The local authority admitted the woman "might have missed out on a suitable property" due to the delays and said it had made improvements to its processes.

'Caused injustice'

Miss X applied for help with housing in the summer of 2023, however, it wasn't until March 2024, after she sent a complaint, that the council concluded she was eligible for help.

Housing applications should be determined within eight weeks.

The LGO's report said the "distress and uncertainty" to Miss X "caused injustice" and could have been avoided.

The council said it would also assess the resident's medical records in April, which it did not do and failed to contact her or send out letters.

In May, the local authority accepted these were mistakes and offered her £400 in compensation.

The council later admitted 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".

Cabinet member for Housing and Residents Services, Fleur Donnelly-Jackson, said the council had "sincerely apologised" to Miss X for the "uncertainty and distress" caused.

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."

The council has since offered Miss X a suitable property.