South London council took over 2 years to move family from unsuitable studio flat

The council owed the family an immediate duty to rehouse them

A South London council took more than two years to move a family after finding their overcrowded flat was unsuitable. A watchdog investigation found Wandsworth Council owed the mum and her two kids an immediate duty to move them out of the studio flat once it ruled it was unsuitable.

But a new Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report said the council did not move the family until September 2025, after accepting the flat was unsuitable in June 2023. The council apologised for failing to provide the family with suitable accommodation and said it was reviewing its processes to make sure it did not happen again.

The council placed the woman, named Miss X in the report, and her two children in a studio flat when they became homeless in 2023. Miss X then complained the property was unsuitable and overcrowded.

The ombudsman said the council should have provided Miss X with suitable accommodation after deciding in June 2023 the studio flat was unsuitable, rather than rehousing the family in September 2025.

The report said: “There is a legal duty for councils to ensure any accommodation provided under a homelessness duty is suitable for the applicant and household members.

“If the council agrees the accommodation is unsuitable, it owes an immediate duty to provide suitable accommodation. If the council accepts the accommodation is unsuitable, the applicant does not need to request a formal suitability review.”

It added: “We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Miss X did not complain to the ombudsman until June 2025, so we have considered the injustice from June 2024, twelve months prior to her bringing her complaint to us.”

The watchdog asked the council to pay Miss X compensation for each month she remained in the unsuitable property from June 2024 to September 2025, although it has not confirmed the figure.

A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing safe, secure housing for those that need it most, and we’re sorry that in this case we did not provide suitable accommodation. We have made a payment to the family concerned and are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.”

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