REDBRIDGE Council has been ordered to pay thousands in compensation to families who suffered “considerable discomfort” in temporary accommodation.

One family blamed the length of time in a B&B accommodation for their marriage collapsing.

Another were still in cramped, rodent-infested rooms six months after the council agreed it was not good enough.

The council was ordered to pay out a combined £4,500 by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) after upholding the two families’ complaints. 

One family were a husband and wife and their three children aged two, 11 and 14. The mother would go on to blame the housing situation for her marriage collapsing.

They lived in a B&B for more than eight months after a landlord seized their privately rented property.

One child did not have a bed. A lack of internet access prevented another child from doing homework and there was no table or chair to study at.

At one stage, the council offered the family temporary accommodation in Canterbury but the mother said it would damage her family’s life.

The LGO concluded that the family experienced “considerable inconvenience and discomfort”.

The second family were another man and wife with three children aged two, four and six. One has learning difficulties and autism.

The family, who had been granted asylum, were homeless after moving from northern England.

They were offered accommodation in the other side of London because there was nothing available in the borough. 

The father wrote to the council demanding larger accommodation. A doctor said the cramped accommodation was causing the boy’s eczema to worsen and preventing him from sleeping.

The father also complained about rodents in the room, torn mattresses, damp and the smell of drugs.

Despite telling the council that the mattresses were torn on December 19 2016, they were not replaced until at least January 2017.

The family’s MP also told the council rodents were entering the family’s room.

The council instructed the managing agents to take care of the issue but no action was taken until February 2017, four months after the first request.

The family was in the accommodation for eight months, even though the council accepted the accommodation was not good enough after just two.

It is against the law to keep a family in temporary accommodation for more than six weeks.

The LGO said the council “was significantly at fault” for leaving the family in unsuitable accommodation for so long.

The council apologised to both families for the distress caused.