Peterborough resident to be paid £250 for every month they were affected by council's housing mistake

A Peterborough resident who may have missed out on social housing due to a council error will be paid £250 for every month they were affected by the mistake.

The resident, who has not been publicly named, will receive £2,950 in total, which includes an extra £200 for their “time and trouble” going through the complaints process.

A Peterborough City Council (PCC) report says that the individual should have been categorised as being among those with the most need for housing in April 2022 when changes to its allocations policy were implemented.

But this didn’t happen and the error wasn’t rectified until October that year.

A subsequent investigation found that the individual may have missed out on properties they expressed interest in on the council’s housing register during this period.

They would have at least been shortlisted for accommodation they applied for in May, the report says, if they had been categorised correctly.

The changes the council made to their allocations policy included removing people from the waiting list who did not confirm they wish to remain on it and giving priority to those who work with the council to “prevent their homelessness”, such as by reporting the risk to them early rather than waiting until the threat is imminent.

Freedom of Information (FOI) data shows that, in the year the policy was implemented, 1,163 people were removed from the register.

Wait for housing averages two-and-a-half years

Most people on it will have a low income, a disability requiring specialist support, a precarious living situation and/or a history as a child in the care system.

Those who are eligible can apply for social housing provided by the council or local housing associations as it becomes available – but demand usually outweighs supply.

The average waiting time for a two or three-bedroom house for those with the most need for housing is two-and-a-half years, PCC says.

The individual involved in this case will receive £250 for every month between April 2022 and March 2023, which is when their complaint reached director level at the council.

During these 11 months, they also experienced “general delays in communication” with PCC’s housing needs service, the council says.

The agreed compensation package was signed off in December 2023 and will come into effect this week.

Awards of this type "are not common", PCC says, but the decision has been made by the council and supported by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).