A mother was evicted from her council home after the town hall failed to charge her rent for two years — and was then left without help from children's social services, an ombudsman's investigation has found.
The local government and social care ombudsman, which investigated Newham Council's handling of the case, said the woman had been left "in a difficult situation" that caused her distress.
A council spokesperson has admitted to "a number of failures" in the way her case was handled and "unreservedly apologised".
The woman — referred to only as "Ms X" in the ombudsman's report — moved into a council property in 2020.
But the local authority failed to set up a rent account for her, and she "did not make any rent payments for about two years". As a result, the ombudsman said, she "accumulated significant rent arrears".
The report says the council "accepted there had been a failure to set up the rent account" and reduced Ms X's rent arrears by 20 per cent, or £5,260, and chose not to apply rent increases that would have been due in 2021 and 2022.
However, the council claimed Ms X had also "contributed to the issue of rent arrears" and began eviction proceedings over the unpaid rent in 2024.
Ms X emailed her housing officer in July and November of that year, and again in February 2025, warning that the eviction threatened her with homelessness.
But the council, the ombudsman found, did not respond or take action until 24 March 2025 — by which point eviction proceedings were already under way.
Ms X appealed against the eviction. But on the morning of her court hearing, the council emailed her with an offer of temporary accommodation in a neighbouring area, telling her she had until 2pm that day to decide whether to accept.
"Ms X says that due to the stress of having to attend court, she was unable to properly consider the offer," the ombudsman's report said.
She did not accept the property, and the council decided it no longer had a duty to find her temporary accommodation. She was evicted on 1 April.
The council then told her it would refer her to children's social care, as she had a dependent child and was homeless. But the ombudsman found that referral was "not properly actioned" — meaning Ms X was never offered assistance by children's services.
She eventually signed a tenancy agreement for a private sector home on 22 April, and was no longer homeless.
The ombudsman concluded that the council had a duty to prevent Ms X becoming homeless after her email in February 2025, but "delayed taking action". However, the report also found the council "did not leave Ms X without accommodation".
"While it may have been difficult to respond on the day she was in court this does not lead me to conclude the council acted with fault," the report said.
The ombudsman did criticise the council for failing to refer Ms X to children's social services, "which may have resulted in action being taken to assist Ms X, possibly including the offer of short-term accommodation".
"She was left in a difficult situation and this caused distress," the report said.
The council was ordered to make a "symbolic payment of £150 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused as a result of the council not taking action".
A Newham Council spokesperson said the authority had offered Ms X "a financial remedy in excess of £6,000".
They added: "There have been a number of failures in the way Miss X's case has been handled, for which the council has unreservedly apologised. The individual failings have been investigated, and appropriate processes have been put in place to ensure there is no repetition."
