Haringey Tenant Trapped at Home for 20 Months, Finds Ombudsman
For 20 months, an elderly woman was left effectively housebound in a property that failed to meet her basic needs. Unable to use her own bath and trapped by stairs she could not navigate without help, she told the Ombudsman she felt like "a prisoner in her own home".
In a report just released, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman delivered a damning verdict, upholding her complaint against Haringey Council for “substantial delays” in assessing her housing need and providing suitable accommodation. The Ombudsman concluded that Ms D endured “a serious injustice” as a result of the council’s faults, stating:
“Because of the failings by the Council, Ms D has remained in an unsuitable property where she is effectively housebound without assistance to use the stairs.”
A Litany of Delays
According to the investigation, Ms D first applied for a housing transfer in early 2022. She and her advocate submitted several online housing register applications but received no updates. When her MP intervened in January 2023, the council promised to assess her case, yet crucial referrals were ignored for months. The assessment, which should have been completed by spring 2023, was delayed until November that year. Even then, the report's clear recommendation that Ms D needed to be rehoused was not acted on until September 2024 - more than 15 months later.
Internal council emails also revealed that officers claimed they were "unable to access the system" to trace Ms D’s previous housing applications, further compounding the delays. The ruling paints a stark picture of the human cost of bureaucratic delays, leaving a vulnerable resident in a prolonged state of distress and confinement.
Not an Isolated Incident
Disturbingly, Ms D’s experience appears to be symptomatic of a much wider problem. In July, data from the Ombudsman revealed that Haringey had the highest number of upheld complaints per capita in England for the second consecutive year.
The ongoing complaints highlighting delays and poor assistance suggest the council's internal processes are not fit for purpose. Residents must ask themselves if councillors are providing the oversight and challenge needed to ensure processes and culture at the council change so no one else is left waiting, and suffering, for so long.