Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to complete work agreed under a Disabled Facilities Grant. She says that she has been left without a bathroom, which has caused considerable distress. She confirms the Council has agreed to replace the bathroom however has yet to do so. We found the Council at fault. There was a delay in fixing the bathroom. The Council will take action to resolve the bathroom issue, apologise and make a payment to Miss X to recognise the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to complete work agreed under a Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). She says this work was for the benefit of her partner who has since died.
2. Miss X says the lack of bathroom in the property has caused her and other family members who live at the property, a great deal of distress. She confirms the Council agreed to replace the bathroom but has yet to do so because of the costs involved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.
6. I have also considered the relevant statutory guidance, as set out below. In addition, I have considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

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What I found

What should have happened

7. Disabled Facilities Grants are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.
8. Relevant councils must promote ‘wellbeing’ when carrying out care and support functions. Wellbeing includes the suitability of living accommodation. The Care Act 2014 recognises suitable accommodation as one way of meeting care and support needs. Prevention is critical to the Care Act and home adaptation is an example of secondary prevention.
9. In March 2022 the government issued non-statutory guidance “Disabled facilities Grant (DFG) Delivery: Guidance for local authorities in England.
10. This guidance advises councils in England on how they can effectively and efficiently deliver DFG funded adaptations to best serve the needs of local older and disabled people. It brings together and sets out in one place existing policy frameworks, legislative duties and powers, together with recommended best practice, to help councils provide an adaptation service to disabled tenants and residents in their area.
11. The March 2022 guidance identifies five key stages to delivering home adaptations:
• Stage 1: First contact with the service. Councils should ensure the public has access to information and advice about the DFG process.
• Stage 2: First contact to assessment and identification of the relevant works. An occupational therapist (OT) will assess the person’s needs and potential solutions through home adaptations.
• Stage 3: Identification of the relevant works to submission of the formal grant application. The person completes and submits the application form together with designs and costing for the works (where necessary).
• Stage 4: Grant application to grant decision. The Council will check the application and issue a decision letter. If a council refuses a grant, it must explain why.
• Stage 5: Approval of grant to completion of works. The works are arranged and carried out and the necessary quality checks made.

What happened

12. The Council say it approved a DFG for changes to the bathroom at Miss X’s property in 2024. In January 2025 the work stopped due to concerns Miss X had over the quality of works completed.
13. Miss X says that after the works stopped, she was left without a bathroom. She reports the Council sent a new surveyor who she thought would be there to quote for new works. However, Miss X says the new surveyor quoted for repairs.
14. Miss X confirms the new surveyor sent a contract through in April 2025 however communication with the Council went quiet after this.
15. The Council say a stage one complaint was made in May 2025 by Miss X and this escalated into a stage two complaint. The outcome of the complaint was for Miss X to provide two quotes for the remaining work.
16. In June 2025 the Council say that it proposed a visit from occupational health to discuss a way forward.
17. Miss X says that after her partner died, she asked the Council in August 2025 to install a new bathroom (without the disabled facilities).
18. The Council responded and agreed to this request in August 2025 and asked Miss X to provide quotes. After Miss X provided a quote, the Council stated that it would fund a new bathroom up to the amount of £7,000.
19. Miss X says that she has been unable to find anyone who would install the bathroom for that amount. She says that she has asked the Council for help regarding this, but it has not provided any.

Analysis

20. Under the DFG guidance referenced above, the Council had a responsibility to check the quality of work undertaken at the Property. The Council accepted that works undertaken through the DFG up to January 2025 did not meet the required standards.
21. The Council therefore must ensure the works were completed to standard at the property. Although I accept that it tried after the works stopped to resolve this issue, Miss X has remained without a bathroom.
22. There have been different reasons for the delay which includes a contractor leaving the project and staff from the Council also leaving. The failure to arrange replacement work to be carried out, caused Miss X and her family a great deal of distress during a time when her partner was receiving end of life care.
23. In August 2025, I note the Council agreed to replace or reinstate a traditional bathroom at the property. It made no reference at the time, for a budget that Miss X should keep within, just that she needed to provide ‘quotes’ for it to consider.
24. Although I acknowledge the Council considers £7,000 a ‘reasonable amount’ for a new bathroom, the Council has provided no evidence to justify why this amount is reasonable. It has not helped in securing a quote or showing if Miss X can replace her bathroom for the figure quoted.
25. The figure of £7,000 appears to be based on the amount of DFG originally awarded. However, it is important to consider, the plans were unsatisfactory and completed over a year ago now.
26. I find the Council should replace the bathroom at the property given it accepts the original work was not carried out to standard. I consider this to be corrective action, as it would put back Miss X into the position she would have been, if this incident had not occurred.
27. I do not consider that this action should be limited by a certain amount but should be based on at least two quotes to show the going rate to replace a bathroom. As Miss X has already provided the Council with one quote for a new bathroom, I find that it should confirm in writing, that it will approve works once it receives a second quote.
28. As stated, this is corrective action, it does not recognise the distress that Miss X has experienced since January 2025 when she was left without a bathroom. Our guidance on remedies states that when somebody has been left without adaptations which would have improved their daily life, we will recommend a remedy payment of £150 to £350 a month.
29. Although Miss X does not need the adaptations set out under the DFG, she has still been left without a bathroom facility over an extended period. Our guidance says that we can make an award for those affected by this issue, which includes other family members who also live at the property.
30. As Miss X has been left without any bathroom facilities and has reported going to hotels to use bathing facilities, I consider the impact to be on the higher scale. I therefore have made the award of £350 per month and find that this should begin from January 2025 when she was left without a bathroom. I have made this award through to April 2026 and so in total the Council should pay Miss X £5,250.
31. The Council should also apologise to Miss X for the avoidable distress this issue has caused her. Going forward, it should also confirm in writing that it will provide Miss X with an award of £350 a month, to recognise the continuing distress caused by not having a bathroom at the property. This should be limited to six months, in line with our remedy guidance. If this issue remains after this point, this would be the basis of a new complaint where we would consider any remaining continuing injustice for Miss X.

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Action

32. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Provide an apology for the distress caused by the failure to install a bathroom at the property.
2. Confirm in writing, it will approve work at the property for a new bathroom, once it receives a second quote.
3. Pay Miss X £5,250 to recognise the distress caused in the failure to install a bathroom at the property from January 2025 to April 2026.
4. Confirm in writing that it will provide an award of £350 a month from May 2026 for a maximum of six months to recognise the continuing distress caused by the lack of bathroom facilities.
33. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

35. I find fault causing injustice. The Council will apologise, take action and make a payment to Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman