Lewisham Council has been ordered to pay compensation to a resident after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) found fault in its handling of her homelessness application.

The LGSCO investigation, detailed in the LGSCO report issued 14 August 2025, found that the council had a blanket practice of waiting until one week before bailiffs evict an applicant to provide interim accommodation . The LGSCO criticised this practice, stating it did not consider the circumstances of each case. The council did not provide a justification for this practice in the provided documents.

The Housing Select Committee reviewed the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Report 181125 at its meeting on 18 November 2025, and noted its extreme disappointment that similar failings had arisen again after being raised in 2023. They expressed serious concern at the apparent practice of only providing interim accommodation shortly before the execution of a bailiff’s warrant.

The LGSCO found that the council was at fault for:

  • wrongly telling Ms X to remain in her property until the court granted a bailiff warrant
  • failure to consider whether Ms X was homeless when her section 21 notice expired
  • failure to recognise Ms X was homeless once her rent increased or when the court granted possession
  • delay in accepting the relief duty and providing interim accommodation
  • providing unsuitable interim accommodation and waiting until Ms X was about to be evicted before looking for accommodation
  • delay in responding to the complaint
  • poor complaint handling

The LGSCO recommended that the council apologise to Ms X, pay her £7,690.24 for avoidable rent arrears and court costs, and pay her a further £750 to recognize her avoidable distress and uncertainty. The council was also told to pay Ms X's child, B, £1,000 to recognize the avoidable distress and risk of harm. The provided documents do not specify any long-term support being offered to Ms. X and her child, B, beyond the financial compensation.

In addition to the financial remedies, the LGSCO recommended that the council take the following actions to improve its services:

  • provide training and guidance to relevant staff on 6.29 to 6.38 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance. The training will be delivered by Southwark Law Centre in November 2025. The training will cover minimum expectations for demonstrating decision making in case notes, the importance of making a considered decision in each case on the facts of that case and not applying a blanket policy, and the increasing likelihood an applicant is homeless as the possession process proceeds and the need to revisit decisions about whether an applicant is homeless before each stage and with any other relevant change in circumstances.
  • end the blanket practice of waiting until one week before bailiffs evict an applicant to provide interim accommodation and instead consider the circumstances of each case
  • identify and implement a process to enable officers to plan for and manage likely future accommodation supply and demand, especially where applicants are assessed as needing to remain in the borough
  • share a copy of this decision with staff responsible for responding to complaints about housing along with the Council's stage one and stage two responses to identify learning and improve complaint handling
  • update the LGSCO on the roll out of the complaint handling improvement project, including how the Council plans to review its effectiveness

The Committee noted it would have been minded to make a formal referral to Mayor and Cabinet were Section 21 notices not due to be abolished, and that it will keep the handling of possession and homelessness cases under close review as the new legislative framework comes into force.