The local authority was also ordered by the Housing Ombudsman to pay over £1,000 in compensation, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

Waltham Forest Council has apologised after an at-risk resident was left homeless for months due to delays in dealing with his application for housing.

His case was reviewed by the Housing Ombudsman, an independent body that audits local authorities, in February this year.

The man, referred to as Mr X by the ombudsman, was left homeless for around two and a half months, between March and June 2023.

He first approached the council in March 2023 after “sofa surfing” at friends’ and relatives’ houses for two years.

Mr X told the council he had been diagnosed with severe depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), gout, carpal tunnel syndrome, and dyslexia. He was also attending psychotherapy sessions weekly.

Local authorities are required by law to provide residents at risk of becoming homeless with accommodation if they are assessed as having a ‘priority need’. This has led to increasing shortages of temporary housing and councils relying more heavily on expensive hotels or hostels, which has put many in financial hardship.

Medical advisors at Waltham Forest Council determined Mr X was not vulnerable, however, even after he had been admitted to a mental hospital. The council accepted that it owed him housing, but said he was not in priority need.

When he was discharged in mid-July, Mr X was provided with temporary accommodation by the NHS home treatment team (HTT). The HTT provides acute treatment for adults whose mental health is so severe they would otherwise be admitted to hospital.

Mr X told the council later that month it was wrong to not deem him as a priority, and that he had attempted suicide twice during the process.

Though he provided the council with yet more medical evidence in August, the council confirmed in October he was not in priority need.

The council sent this letter to Mr X by email, and the chain included an internal message from a housing officer saying “well done” for declining his request.

After a brief stay in a hotel, Mr X complained to the council that the process had been unclear, council staff acted unprofessionally, and the email chain showing officers congratulating each other on rejecting his application was deeply upsetting.

The town hall apologised and appointed a separate medical advisor. After a review of Mr X’s GP records, he was recategorised as in priority need. The council said it had not been previously aware he was taking mood stabilising drugs nor that he had a history of suicide attempts or mania.

Despite the delays, Mr X was warned the current wait time for a house in Waltham Forest was eight years – therefore, he had not been disadvantaged. He was, however, offered £250 in compensation.

In its report, the ombudsman found the council had both been at fault and caused Mr X a “significant injustice”.

“Based on the information available and, given the low threshold to be applied, I consider the council should have provided Mr X with interim accommodation when he presented as homeless in March 2023,” the ombudsman wrote in February.

“The council’s failure to do so meant Mr X was street homeless for longer than he otherwise would have been. Mr X says this led to a suicide attempt and his admission to a mental health hospital. This is a significant injustice.”

The ombudsman also found there had been significant delays in the council’s handling of Mr X’s complaints. “He is unhappy the stage two response to his complaint is out of date and indicates the author made no effort to properly consider his circumstances,” the investigator wrote.

The council was ordered to apologise to Mr X for its failures and pay him a total of £1,170 compensation.

Ahsan Khan, the deputy leader and cabinet member for housing and regeneration, said: “We’re sorry that we didn’t fully meet this resident’s needs in this case.

“We accept the ombudsman’s findings, have apologised to and compensated the individual affected, and we’ve acted on all recommendations to improve our service.

“At a time of acute housing need in London, we are determined to ensure that anyone who approaches us for help receives accurate advice and the support they’re entitled to.”

In February last year, the authority was slapped with £18,800 in fines over three cases of severe maladministration. The cases involved the council failing to address individual issues with damp, mould and antisocial behaviour in its social housing.

Then-housing secretary Michael Gove called the findings “unacceptable” and said the council’s handling of the complaints fell “well below the standard residents should expect”.

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