A homeless man has died after he suffered severe burns in temporary out-of-borough housing provided by Windsor council, prompting anger from a local campaign group that said the accommodation was inadequate and inappropriate.
The man died in hospital on 28 January, 11 days after he reportedly fell into a bath of searing hot water at the hostel in Southall, west London. His death came days after the Windsor council leader, Simon Dudley, said rough sleepers should be cleared from the town centre for the royal wedding.
Last month Dudley faced a no-confidence vote after he demanded police use legal powers to clear the area of homeless people before the wedding, claiming rough sleepers were making a voluntary choice and there was “high-quality housing” available as an alternative.
The homeless man’s family asked that his name not be published. Windsor council placed him in the out-of-borough hostel, also used to house families, after he became homeless. He suffered burns all over his body after he hit his head while intoxicated and fell into the bath, the Guardian understands.
He is thought to have been in the bathroom for about 30 minutes before he was discovered by another resident at the Pay and Sleep hostel. There is no suggestion that the hostel failed to fulfil any obligation to monitor the man, but there are concerns that he needed more oversight than the hostel could provide.
The project manager at Windsor Homeless Project told the Guardian he had repeatedly questioned the appropriateness of using the Southall hostel to house people from the royal borough.
Murphy James said: “Just last week [I] made remarks about it after Simon Dudley claimed that rough sleepers had been offered accommodation but had chosen to decline it in favour of sleeping in a doorway. My sentiment was: what does that tell you about the accommodation on offer?”
James said that he had heard “countless stories” of inadequate conditions at the hostel and added that the location cut homeless people off from essential support.
“Becoming homeless makes anybody vulnerable,” he said. “Vulnerable people should be housed centrally to their support networks, not swept away to a place where they know nobody.”
Pay and Sleep denied that conditions were inadequate said it had passed its most recent health and safety inspection in February last year.
Local authorities are advised to make out-of-area placements for homeless people only as a last resort. According to the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012, authorities must consider distance from the home borough, personal disruption, proximity to medical facilities and access to local services and transport when selecting temporary accommodation.
On 29 January, the day after the man’s death, Dudley survived a second vote of no confidence after he called for Thames Valley police to use the 1824 Vagrancy Act and the 2014 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act against “aggressive begging and intimidation” and said homelessness in Windsor could present the town in an “unfavourable light”.
More than 275,000 people have signed a petition in opposition to Dudley’s letter to the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner.
On 9 January Dudley told the Andrew Peach show on BBC Radio Berkshire that he would visit the Southall hostel.
“Actually, I am going to be going to see that. People have said: ‘What’s that unit like?’ I want to go see it for myself,” he told the presenter. “We always try to get people housed as close as possible to where they live … Everyone has been offered housing and, to my understanding, high-quality housing.”
He later cancelled the visit. The council cited concerns over media coverage and the number of residents as reasons for the cancellation.
When asked to comment on the homeless man’s death, a council spokesperson told the Guardian: “It is not our procedure to comment on an individual case, particularly when there may be further investigations into the circumstances of this incident.
“In common with other local authorities we have on occasion placed people at Pay and Sleep as part of our emergency accommodation plans. Given the amount of media coverage and the number of individuals placed at this facility by various local authorities, it was not felt appropriate for Cllr Simon Dudley to visit Pay and Sleep.”
A spokesperson for Pay and Sleep said: “First and foremost Pay and Sleep wish to express their deepest sympathy to the deceased and his family. Pay and Sleep is one of the very few private hostels in London that does not discriminate against the homeless, and we have provided cheap emergency accommodation to hundreds of homeless people and families since the mid-80s, the vast majority of whom have been placed with us by nearby councils.
“The premises are formally inspected by councils wishing to use us, and we are licensed by the local council to operate a house of multiple occupation. The most recent formal inspection was carried out on 9 February last year by our local council. Our premises are compliant with all relevant health and safety legislation.”
A relative of the homeless man said they did not want to comment when contacted by the Guardian.
