Pregnant Woman and Child Left in B&B for Nearly a Year
Watchdog finds Ealing Council's treatment of family breached the law
The council could not provide evidence of steps taken to house the family. Picture: AI generated
October 1, 2026
Ealing Council breached the law by leaving a pregnant mother and children in a B&B for 11 months.
The borough placed the man, referred to in the report as Mr X, his pregnant wife and their young child in a B&B and hotel rooms with shared facilities long past the six week legal limit.
The family initially presented as homeless in June 2024 and were placed into a B&B style accommodation made up of a single room with shared kitchen facilities.
During their stay in temporary accommodation, the family was moved between two B&Bs and later a hotel. During this time Mr X repeatedly requested self-contained accommodation.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman recognised the difficulties with the “chronic shortage of housing” in the borough “but in Mr X’s case his family were placed in B&B accommodation for 11 months.”
This is almost 43 weeks longer than the maximum allowed and a fault by Ealing Council. Once moved out of the B&B, the family were placed into a single hotel style room with shared kitchen facilities for 17 and a half weeks.
The watchdog stated that “while this accommodation is suitable short term it is not necessarily suitable long term.” This was a second fault by the council.
The local authority told the Ombudsman that it took proactive and ongoing steps to identify suitable alternative accommodation for Mr X but “has not provided any evidence of its actions.”
Mr X submitted a complaint to the council about the handling of his homelessness application. In response the council added him and his family to its Temporary Accommodation Transfer Register – a year after he was placed into temporary accommodation.
The ombudsman found this to be “particularly concerning” because “this only appears to have happened because Mr X made a formal complaint.” The council then failed to meet deadlines to review the suitability of his accommodation – another fault.
Mr X says his family “had to live, sleep and eat in the same cramped space… and that there was no safe space for his young child to play or follow a normal routine.” In addition, the shared kitchen facilities were described as “inconvenient, unhygienic and, at times, difficult to access.”
This limited their ability to make proper meals. The situation became even more difficult when his wife was pregnant.
The council was ordered to pay the family approximately £8,400 for the time spent in “unsuitable” B&B accommodation, and £1,400 to cover the fault and injustice caused by their stay in council managed hotel accommodation.
An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and have agreed to apologise to the family and make the recommended payments in recognition of the time they spent in unsuitable accommodation.
“We recognise the family should not have remained in this accommodation for as long as they did and we are committed to providing the best possible support to families who come to us for housing assistance.
“Ealing, like many councils across London, is facing unprecedented pressure on temporary accommodation. We are currently accommodating nearly 3,000 families, while the cost of providing temporary accommodation is placing significant pressure on council finances.
“At the same time, the shortage of genuinely affordable housing means that finding suitable accommodation for homeless households is increasingly challenging.
“We are continuing to work to increase the supply of suitable temporary and settled accommodation and to ensure families are supported appropriately while longer-term housing options are identified.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter