Portsmouth City Council (18 015 382)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 09-Jul-2019

Summary: There was no fault in the Council’s handling of a homelessness application. There was some fault in its complaint handling, but this did not cause a significant injustice. For this reason, the Ombudsman has completed his investigation.

London Borough of Haringey (18 009 453)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 09-Jul-2019

Summary: The Council failed to help Mr X and Ms Y when their landlord asked them to leave their rented property. The Council used the wrong legislation when considering the case despite acknowledging this was wrong in earlier responses to their complaints. Mr X and Ms Y were caused distress and uncertainty as a result of the Council’s actions. The Council should provide them with assistance and pay them £1800 to recognise the impact the fault had on them.

London Borough of Croydon (19 002 621)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 08-Jul-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a refund request for a period the complainant spent in emergency accommodation. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

London Borough of Barnet (19 000 810)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 08-Jul-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman has no reason to investigate this complaint about the way the Council has dealt with a woman’s homelessness and social housing applications. This is because we would expect the woman to use her statutory appeal rights if she has grounds to challenge the Council’s decision that she has no priority need under the homelessness legislation. In addition there is no sign of any other fault by the Council in her case.

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (18 010 385)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 04-Jul-2019

Summary: The Council failed to stop its accommodation providers from removing Miss X from temporary accommodation without following the correct process. The Council should provide Miss X with accommodation and assist her in securing permanent accommodation. The Council should also pay Miss X £2000 to acknowledge the distress caused to Miss X.

London Borough of Wandsworth (18 014 317)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 02-Jul-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman found no injustice to Miss W on her complaint of the Council leaving her and her family in unsuitable temporary accommodation. The Council made 2 offers of alternative accommodation she could have accepted. One was in an area she did not want to live in due to past problems, but this caused no injustice. She has now accepted an offer of accommodation. Records failed to show how officers considered the medical advisor’s recommendations and Miss W’s evidence. This caused no injustice.

London Borough of Brent (19 000 359)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 01-Jul-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council dealt with a homelessness application in 2016. This is because the complaint was made late.

London Borough of Hackney (19 003 292)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 26-Jun-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman does not have grounds to investigate this complaint about the way the Council has dealt with a man’s homelessness case. This is mainly because the man has statutory review and possible appeal rights he can use to challenge the Council’s decision that it has no duty to house him. In addition there is no sign of other fault by the Council which has caused the man an injustice to warrant our involvement.

Ipswich Borough Council (19 000 992)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 25-Jun-2019

Summary: The complaint concerns Mrs B’s homelessness and housing register applications. The Council was at fault for not telling Mrs B about the priority it had given her housing register application. This caused Mrs B some lost opportunity. The Council has agreed our recommendations that it should apologise and review what happened.

London Borough of Lambeth (18 014 102)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 21-Jun-2019

Summary: Ms B complains about the Council’s handling of her request for housing help when she was threatened with homelessness. The Council was at fault. The Council did not give proper consideration to Ms B’s homelessness application and delayed increasing her housing register priority. This meant Ms B missed out on suitable properties. The Council has agreed to take a range of actions to put right the injustice Ms B suffered. We have completed our investigation.