Homeless pregnant Kingston abuse victim moved into apartment with blood stains and no crib space

Kingston Council moved a pregnant homeless victim of domestic abuse into an unsuitable studio apartment with blood stains on the wall and no space for a cot, a watchdog investigation has found. It took the authority more than four months to properly house the woman, who was also placed in a mixed dormitory with shared facilities, where she suffered panic attacks.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s report found that the council initially delayed providing Mrs X with emergency housing and then failed to properly consider the suitability of the accommodation provided. The authority agreed to pay him £1,000 as a result of his failings after the ombudsman told him to pay £750 more than he had originally offered.

A council spokesman said it was committed to providing “quality housing for residents” and ensuring they had a “safe and comfortable place to live”. It added that it is supporting almost 1,000 families in temporary accommodation as it faces a national housing crisis, with demand for properties “increasingly outstripping supply”.

READ MORE: Evicted single mum ‘feels hopeless’ after moving between west London hotels for 6 months

Ms X approached the council as homeless last July and said she was fleeing domestic abuse because her wider family had threatened her because they disapproved of her pregnancy. The authority accepted she was eligible for help, the report said, but failed to properly consider her circumstances and provide emergency accommodation for 17 days.

This meant that Mrs X had to find accommodation herself using another council’s out of hours service on a nightly basis. This was a mixed hostel where she felt unsafe and had panic attacks, according to the report, and chose to sleep on a bench one night because she was so worried.

During this time, a domestic abuse charity asked the council to place Mrs X in emergency accommodation as it said she was at ongoing risk of domestic abuse and that certain areas were unsafe for her because people threatened to kill her. Mrs X provided the council with a statement about the domestic abuse in late July, which did not name the perpetrators.

Ms X called the council repeatedly in early August to ask if it accepted her statement. A legal charity, which also contacted the authority on her behalf, said the council refused to accommodate her unless she provided the names and addresses of the perpetrators, which she failed to do for fear of reprisals.

The ombudsman said the council focused too much on Mrs X naming the perpetrators and did not respond to the domestic abuse charity’s request, which left her feeling disbelieved.

The council eventually placed Ms X in a hotel for one night after her representative threatened legal action 17 days after her initial request, then moved her to -a mixed-sex hostel with shared facilities for almost eight weeks. The watchdog said the authority had not considered whether the hostel was suitable for Ms X, who suffered panic attacks while living there.

The council placed Ms X in a studio flat in another neighborhood in September. A council officer visited the property in November after Mrs X requested a review of its suitability and found it was “highly unsuitable for bringing a new baby into it”. The officer reported blood stains on the bathroom wall, the oven was not working, there were no electrical outlets in the kitchen for the sterilizer or microwave, and there was not enough room for a Moses basket.

The council moved Mrs X, while pregnant, to another property four days later. She accepted a private rental property earlier this year.

The council apologized to Mrs X, offered her £250 and agreed to improve its domestic abuse services ahead of the watchdog inquiry, but the ombudsman said this was not enough. He told the authority to pay him an extra £750, bringing the total to £1,000, and to provide evidence that he had improved services.

A Kingston Council spokesman said: “We are committed to doing everything we can to provide quality housing for residents and to ensure that people in the neighborhood have a safe and comfortable place to live.

“We are currently supporting almost 1,000 families with temporary accommodation and the national housing crisis is critical, with demand for properties increasingly outstripping supply. In London, there has been a 40% drop in the number of landlords renting their properties to councils.

A Kingston Council spokesman said: “We accept the ombudsman’s decision. We apologize to Mrs X for the time she spent in unsuitable premises and she was made the additional payment of £750.

In addition, we have conducted mandatory refresher courses on how to handle domestic abuse cases and, from the end of March 2024, an independent domestic violence lawyer has been engaged to work weekly with housing counselors in preparing personal homes . plans. We have also completed a review and change to our accommodation adequacy assessment procedures.

“Kingston Council is currently carrying out major regeneration in the borough to provide 2,170 new homes, with 871 new council homes on the Cambridge Road Estate. This includes an additional 104 council homes announced this year over and above the original plan and will deliver 254 council homes. homes in the first phase of the project, we are also delivering a small sites program which will see a further 101 new council homes, the first new council homes built in the borough in nearly 40 years.”

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