Birmingham City Council (20 001 560)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 14-Jan-2021

Summary: Mr X complains the Council did not help him when he approached as homeless. The Council is at fault. It failed to accept relevant homeless duties, complete a Personalised Housing Plan, issue decisions, or tell Mr X about his review rights. The Council should apologise, pay Mr X £1000, and take a new homelessness application.

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (19 019 908)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 14-Jan-2021

Summary: We found the Council at fault in how it responded to Mr X about his housing situation. The Council missed opportunities to try to help prevent Mr X becoming homeless, which was likely to have caused Mr X added avoidable distress. We found the Council’s offer to provide further support to Mr X to try to help him secure accommodation represented a suitable remedy for what happened.

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (20 003 563)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 14-Jan-2021

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. She says the Council’s only action was to ask her to look for private accommodation. Ms X says the Council should owe her the relief duty. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council’s handling of Ms X’s homelessness application. We have made recommendations.

London Borough of Hillingdon (19 019 162)

Statement Not upheld Other 13-Jan-2021

Summary: Mrs X complained about the condition of a garage she rented from the Council. She also complained the Council communicated poorly, failed to take action, and did not fully respond to her complaint. The Ombudsman found no evidence of fault in the way the Council responded to Mrs X’s reports about damage to the garage she rented.

West Lindsey District Council (20 007 790)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Private housing 13-Jan-2021

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s officers serving him with an improvement notice in respect of a property which he rents to tenants. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because he has appealed to the First Tier Tribunal which is the proper authority to consider appeals against improvement notices.

Harlow District Council (20 009 878)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 12-Jan-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint that the Council damaged his home when it repaired neighbouring Council-owned properties. This is because the Council did this work in its role as a social landlord. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing.

Stevenage Borough Council (20 006 218)

Statement Upheld Allocations 12-Jan-2021

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has failed to find suitable accommodation for her family despite them having the highest priority for an allocation and it failed to keep her updated on progress. There was no fault in the way the Council assessed Mrs X’s housing priority. The Council was at fault for giving Mrs X unclear advice, which raised her expectations, for not keeping adequate records of contacts and for not responding properly to her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, pay her £150 and to make some changes to its processes.

London Borough of Hillingdon (20 002 606)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 12-Jan-2021

Summary: The Council was at fault for not providing Mr X with a rent payment card, causing him to fall into arrears. The Council was also at fault for the way it ended Mr X’s temporary accommodation. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X.

London Borough of Tower Hamlets (19 014 085)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 12-Jan-2021

Summary: Miss X complains the Council did not inform her of her rights when considering her homeless application and failed to provide information about its bidding process. Miss X also complains the Council delayed dealing with her application. She says this caused unnecessary frustration and stress to herself and her family. We have found fault in the Council’s actions regarding this matter and the Council has agreed an appropriate remedy to address the injustice caused to Miss X.

Dover District Council (19 009 246)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 08-Jan-2021

Summary: Mr G complains about the Council’s provision of adapted housing. And how, twice, it placed him in unsuitable accommodation. The Ombudsman upholds the complaint, because of fault with parts of the complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.