A South London council has been told to apologise after deciding a mum fleeing domestic abuse was not homeless. Kingston Council later offered to pay the woman £500 after acknowledging it did not properly consider her housing situation and place 'sufficient weight' on the difficulties she faced.

The woman, named Miss X in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report, complained the council failed to take her homelessness application and provide her with interim accommodation as it wrongly considered she was not homeless. She was forced to pay to stay in a hotel with her kids, she said, which caused her distress.

After an investigation, the ombudsman ruled the council "did not thoroughly consider Miss X's housing situation when deciding she was not homeless which caused distress to her".

The report said Miss X lived with her kids in another borough, controlled by a different council, before moving into a friend's home due to domestic abuse. She made a homelessness application to Kingston Council, the report added, but it refused to take this as "it did not consider her to be homeless".

The mum moved into a hotel after her friend asked her to leave, she said, until another friend offered her and her kids a room.

Miss X's representative complained to the council about its decision not to take her homelessness application. In response, according to the report, the authority said the council in Miss X's home borough had accepted the main homeless duty and provided her with temporary acommodation and it did not have a duty to investigate as it had "no reason to believe" she was homeless.

But the report said: "In response to my enquiries the council has said that it should have taken a homelessness application from Miss X as she was fleeing domestic abuse. The council has acknowledged it did not thoroughly consider Miss X's housing situation and place sufficient weight on the difficulties she faced due to domestic abuse.

"The council has said it will now take a homeless application from Miss X and offer interim accommodation while it makes inquiries and makes a decision on what, if any, duty it owes to her. The council will offer a payment of £500 to Miss X to acknowledge the distress caused.

"It will also remind officers they must consider all aspects of an applicant's situation in its entirety when deciding if an approach meets the criteria for a homelessness application."

The report added the council 'should also apologise to Miss X for the distress caused'.

A Kingston Council spokesperson said: "Kingston Council takes the issue of domestic abuse very seriously and endeavours to assist all those who need help in such circumstances.

"We are sorry for the distress caused to Miss X. We have taken on board the findings of the LGO report and have used it as a lessons learned opportunity. The recommendations from the LGO have been fully actioned."