Havering Council has been ordered to apologise and pay compensation to a resident left in "unsafe" housing.

A complaint against the authority was upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).

The council was told to pay £4,325 to a resident who had been the victim of a violent crime but was not prioritised on the housing register.

The resident, referred to by the ombudsman as ‘Miss X’, told the council in November 2022 she felt unsafe and “feared seeing [her neighbour] on a daily basis,” the ombudsman said. She also claimed the house was unsuitable for her medical needs and those of her three children.

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Between May and June 2023, the council noted concerns that she had been struggling with her mental and physical wellbeing. She had been hospitalised due to panic attacks and felt “very vulnerable”, the ombudsman said.

The town hall offered her accommodation outside the boroughs she requested but she declined, saying she needed to be near her support network. An offer of housing in West Yorkshire was similarly declined, as was the offer of a hotel.

Miss X complained to the ombudsman in January this year, which ruled in August the council had been at fault.

The ombudsman said: “I recognise the difficulties the council faced in finding suitable accommodation to meet the complexity of Miss X’s needs, but it was under a legal duty to find and offer something that was suitable.

“It did not meet this, and Miss X and her family were left in accommodation it accepted was not suitable or safe for them to reasonably remain.”

A council spokesperson apologised and vowed the council would improve its services.

They said: “We are sorry that we did not provide the quality of service that our resident should have expected. However, we will ensure that we learn from this judgement and improve the service we deliver to our residents.”

The £4,325 compensation comprises a ‘symbolic’ payment of £3,575 and £750 to “recognise the distress caused”, with the council also told to apologise and remind its housing officers of the appropriate procedures.

The spokesperson said it had apologised and “complied with the actions outlined by the ombudsman”.