Resident ‘wins’ £150 from Hackney Council after year-long wait for medical assessment

A Hackney woman bidding for social housing was forced to wait over a year for the council to complete her medical assessment, a watchdog has found.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) ordered the council to pay the resident, known only as Ms X, a symbolic £150 for the “anxiety, uncertainty and distress” the delays caused her. The watchdog specifically criticised the council for taking four months to send her assessment forms, and for taking another five months to tell her the outcome – while the council sat on this information.

In January 2025 Ms X was on the council’s housing register, along with over 8,500 other households. Her housing bids had been unsuccessful and she believed her living conditions meant she should be considered as a higher priority for a council property. She asked the local authority for a medical assessment, but the council took four months to provide the necessary forms.

While waiting, she called the council for an update, but after one phone call with a “rude and unhelpful” officer she formally complained. The council upheld her complaint, adding that it had spoken to the officer and offered them more training, but explained that there were delays and backlogs for medical forms and assessments.

Ms X received her assessment form on May 27 and returned it three weeks later. In July, the council visited her home to better understand her medical needs, and in August a medical assessor judged that moving her would alleviate her situation. The assessor sent his verdict to a council housing register officer on 21 August. However, the council did not tell Ms X the outcome until January 2026.

During the Ombudsman’s investigation, the council said it normally expected a medical assessment to take around a month after receipt of the relevant documents. In this case, the entire process took a year. However, the watchdog noted that the assessment did not mean her priority changed, so the council’s delay did not affect her housing bids.

The Ombudsman urged the council to apologise and add any details of actions taken or proposed to ensure assessments were completed without delay, and to evidence this.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a Hackney Council spokesperson said: “No one should have to wait this long for a decision about their housing, and we are sorry for the anxiety and uncertainty this has caused. We fully accept the Ombudsman’s findings. In this case, our handling fell short of the standards our residents should expect from us. This should not have happened.

“We have apologised to the resident and made the payment recommended by the Ombudsman. We are reviewing our processes and taking steps to improve the timeliness of medical assessments and our communication with residents.”