Council failings left vulnerable teenager homeless

Lambeth Council's mishandling of David Henry's homelessness application deprived him of the chance to be housed in permanent accommodation, according to ombudsman Jerry White.

David Henry, a haemophiliac , approached Lambeth Council for housing assistance in March 2006 at the age of 19. His father Neil Henry asked for his son to be given an extra bedroom for a carer due to his medical condition.

After being given temporary accommodation, a medical officer recommended that Henry did not need more than one bedroom, but the council failed to pass this information to him or his father.

Henry had also begun to fall behind with his rent payments to the council because he had not successfully filled out housing benefit forms.

In his report, White said: "The council should have taken proactive action to assist David Henry to complete his housing benefit applications and to advise him of the implications of increasing arrears at a point when they were still manageable.

"Maladministration has caused injustice to David Henry because he was deprived of an opportunity to be housed in one-bedroom accommodation before his application was suspended due to high rent arrears. Had he been given that opportunity, I consider it is likely he would now be living in social housing accommodation."

White ordered the council to offer Henry a one-bedroom home that meets his needs, write off most of the arrears that had accrued and pay him £2,000 in recognition of the injustice he experienced.

He also ordered Lambeth to pay £250 to Henry's father for pursuing the complaint on his son's behalf.

A Lambeth Council spokesman said: "We are absolutely committed to providing the best possible support to our young people, which is why we take this report extremely seriously. We will carefully consider the findings of the ombudsman's report."