A Croydon family will receive a £10,750 payout after a council blunder left their home like a building site for two years, with part of it flooding when it rained.

The family of five, and a child they were caring for, were left with large holes in their walls after builders stopped working on their home when they weren’t paid on time.

Croydon Council was late to pay the family a £40,000 grant to help them build an extension on their two-bedroom home.

The council had agreed to partially fund the building works as part of a Special Guardianship arrangement, as the family was taking care of a fourth child, according to the Housing Ombudsman.

But when the council did not pay their grant on time the builders stopped working – leaving the house and garden in disarray for 21 months.

The ombudsman described the family’s situation as “living on [a] building site” in a press release.

The family had secured a bank loan to pay for their share of the extension but they were forced to chase the council to balance the books.

Finally, the council paid their share in November 2021.

Croydon Council has agreed to apologise to the family and pay them £10,500 in compensation for leaving them in unsuitable conditions.

The council will also pay for any extra work that is needed because builders stopped working for so long. 

They will pay the family a further £250 compensation as they had to bring their complaint to the Ombudsman. 

The council will also cover nursery fees for the child as part of the Special Guardianship process.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The council’s delays have caused this family considerable stress and disruption: they’ve not had proper access to the front or back of their house, walls were left with large holes open to the outside and part of the extension that had been built was flooded when it rained.

"Indeed, some of the work that was completed before the hiatus needs remedial work before the building can be finished.

“I am pleased the council has accepted my recommendations to put things right for the family.”

A Croydon Council spokesperson said: “We are really sorry for the impact our delayed support had on this family.

"All funds have since been paid in full, along with the compensation agreed.

"We have apologised to them and re-established a positive relationship with the family via our social care services.

“We have learnt important lessons from this case and improved our internal procedures and checks for support plans.

"The approval and management of these plans now has greater senior oversight, including regularly monitoring progress on their delivery.”