Luton council fined after mum-of-two housed in ‘unsuitable’ hotel room

A Luton mother-of-two says she was housed in unsuitable accommodation by the borough council and lost some of her possessions, for which the local authority was fined £1,200.

The council was at fault for failing to provide housing for the complainant between September and November 2021 and allowing her possessions to be disposed of, according to a local government and social care ombudsman report.

“These faults caused her injustice, as she had nowhere to live and her possessions were disposed of,” said the report, which calls her Miss D. “She lived in temporary accommodation for several years, a flat sourced by the council.”

Her building was flooded during August 2021, following which several flats including hers began to develop mould and became unsuitable.

She was moved into bed and breakfast accommodation at a hotel, but described it as unsuitable because it was a single room with nowhere to prepare food for her baby and no bed for her other child, explained the report.

“Instead she stayed with her mother and friends, but said the room was her base so left belongings there. The council said the hotel became unavailable in September as it was taken over for another purpose.

“Notes were put under the doors by the hotel telling everyone to be out by September 5th. Miss D was unaware of this as she was elsewhere.

“The council says the hotel staff emptied her room and, after 40 days, disposed of her belongings. She returned to the hotel in late October 2021 to find that her room was empty and her property gone.

“Her representative wrote to the council to complain on her behalf, saying her health visitor wrote to the council to say the accommodation was unsuitable.

“Her MP wrote to LBC on her behalf saying she’d lost property worth more than £7,000 when her room was emptied.”

The hotel said there were only a few items of clothing and baby equipment worth around £200 left in her room, the council explained.

“Miss D said there was clothing, baby equipment and other goods worth nearly £8,000,” added the report. The council agreed that it would pay for the items on the hotel’s inventory.

“She wasn’t satisfied with the council’s responses and approached the ombudsman.

“The council had a duty to house Miss D and should have ensured she knew of the impending eviction and had somewhere to go. It would have been challenging for her family to live there.

“LBC was at fault for the fact she didn’t have appropriate housing or otherwise from September, until she accepted suitable accommodation on November 8th 2021.

“Its acceptance of owing some recompense to Miss D for the loss of her possessions illustrates awareness it failed her during this period.

“The council has agreed within four weeks to write apologising to Miss D for the fault found, while paying her £1,200, which is £1,000 for a lack of housing and £200 for the distress of learning her property was gone.

“Within eight weeks, LBC must complete an audit of internal housing record keeping and consider improvements to its systems.”