Elderly disabled woman 'failed by Havering Council'

Failures by Havering Council meant that an elderly, disabled woman had to live in completely unsuitable accommodation for at least five years longer than necessary, according to a report by the Local Government Ombudsman.

In his report, Tony Redmond said that the council failed to consider the woman’s housing needs and her human rights, and recommends the local authority pay £10,000 compensation.

Sadly, the complainant died before the issue of the Ombudsman’s report, so the compensation should be paid to her daughter.

‘Mrs Oak’ (not her real name for legal reasons) was 86 years old, partially sighted, deaf, and suffered from bronchial asthma and arthritis in all major joints. She lived with her daughter and grand-daughter in a second-floor three-bedroom maisonette, which was reached from street level by three sets of 14 steps. There was no lift. She could not manage the stairs to reach the property or those within the maisonette to her bedroom and the only bathroom without assistance.

Her daughter, the tenant, applied for a transfer for the family to a property with level access and asked the council to award her additional priority due to Mrs Oak’s medical problems.

Mrs Oak complained that the council took too long to deal properly with the housing transfer application and, as a result, she had to live in completely unsuitable accommodation.

In January 2003, a council officer visited Mrs Oak to assess her housing needs, and reported that she was “practically a prisoner in the home”.

The Ombudsman added: “That tragic, deplorable and wholly preventable circumstance did not improve in the intervening years.”

The Ombudsman finds that the council had delayed in dealing properly with the transfer application and that Mrs Oak had had to live in unsuitable accommodation for at least five years longer than she should have. Sadly, between the issuing of the draft and this final report, Mrs Oak died.

The Ombudsman also concludes that the council neglected to consider Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which says that everyone has the right to respect for his/her private and family life.

The Ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice.

The council’s recent offer of suitable accommodation addressed the family’s housing needs, but in addition, the Ombudsman recommends that the council:
• pays compensation of £10,000 to Mrs Oak’s daughter; and
• reviews all rehousing applications over the last five years to see whether others have been affected in a similar way, and apply appropriate compensation to anyone so affected.

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