A PREGNANT woman who approached Ealing Council for help with housing was wrongly turned away, despite police and other agencies saying it was not safe for her to return to her tenancy.

The woman had suffered domestic abuse and harassment at the hands of her former partner and was sofa-surfing with a family in Ealing at the time.

The council decided there were no special circumstances to exempt her from meeting its residency criteria, to enable her to join the housing register.

The woman appealed the council’s decision, but it remained firm that it was correct.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was asked to investigate.

It found the council used an outdated, narrow definition of domestic abuse, limiting it to physical attacks.

This is contrary to the legal definition that includes non-physical abuse, including psychological abuse and coercive and controlling behaviour, which came into force in 2021.

The Ombudsman, Amerdeep Somal, also found the council disregarded information that the ex-partner had kicked in the woman’s door as police had taken no further action over the incident.

Ms Somal said: “This case demonstrates a clear lack of understanding within the council’s housing department of what constitutes domestic abuse, as defined by law.

“The idea that  domestic abuse is limited to physical violence is outdated. This lack of knowledge could potentially have affected other vulnerable people.

“It failed to even investigate whether it owed her a duty to house her, or to offer her interim accommodation. Instead, it left a pregnant woman to sofa-surf with family.

“This woman had the additional distress and indignity of giving birth not knowing where she and her baby would live.

“I hope the measures the council has agreed to put in place will ensure other vulnerable people who have suffered domestic abuse do not have their experiences discounted in future.”

Ealing has agreed to review the woman’s homelessness status and her application to join the housing register. It will also pay her £1,000 to recognise the significant distress she endured.