Pregnant woman left homeless by council - watchdog

The council said it felt remorse for its failings

A woman was forced to sofa surf while nine months pregnant after her local council "wrongly" closed her homelessness application, a watchdog has said.

Brent Council “took no action” to prevent her from being made homeless until January, despite her making a homelessness application six months earlier, according to a report by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). 

The woman, "Mrs B", was compensated with £1,400 after it was found the delay caused her “significant injustice”.

The council said she had been "badly let down by the council", it felt "remorse" and had since made preventative changes.

Mrs B told the council she was pregnant and had been asked to leave the house of the friend she had been staying with, the report said.

She accused the council of poor communication and of wrongly closing her case, leaving her with no fixed address and having to crash on friends’ sofas. 

If a council has “reason to believe” someone is threatened with homelessness, it is required to make a homelessness application.

And, if they have a priority need such as being pregnant, then they must be given interim accommodation.

'Deep sense of remorse'

In August 2022, Mrs B complained that the council had closed her case without telling her after she failed to send over every piece of documentation it requested for her assessment.

Brent Council accepted that this was done without proper warning and so reopened her application.

A council spokesperson said: “We seriously regret that Mrs B was badly let down by the council and feel a deep sense of remorse for what she has been through.

"She should not have been left sofa surfing while heavily pregnant because her case had been wrongly closed.

"We apologise unreservedly for what she experienced when she should have been under council care.”

The council said the case had resulted in moving their homeless service to a new building in Harlesden with more support and services.