Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the suitability of accommodation the Council offered to discharge its homelessness duty. It is reasonable to expect Ms B to have used her right of appeal to the county court on a point of law.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms B, complains the Council unreasonably ended its homelessness duty in her case on the grounds she had refused an offer of suitable accommodation and then evicted her from her temporary accommodation. Ms B says the matter has caused her great distress and she wants the Council to make an offer of permanent housing and pay compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Ms B provided and the complaint correspondence between Ms B and the Council. I sent a draft decision to Ms B and invited comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

6. In 2016, Ms B made a homelessness application and the Council accepted a full housing duty to her. Ms B was provided with temporary accommodation.
7. In October 2018, the Council offered Ms B accommodation in a private rented studio flat. The Council told Ms B it considered the property was suitable and it would therefore discharge its housing duty. Ms B refused the property, saying it was too close to the perpetrator of domestic violence she had suffered. Ms B asked the Council to review its decision. The Council’s reviewing officer decided the property was suitable and provided advice to Ms B that she could make an appeal to the county court on a point of law if she disagreed with the decision. The Council considered Ms B was now intentionally homeless and she was evicted from her temporary accommodation. Ms B is now living with her mother.
8. While Ms B believes the Council offered an unsuitable property and has unreasonably discharged its housing duty and said she is intentionally homeless, the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint.
9. The Ombudsman will not normally investigate complaints about councils’ homelessness decisions because the law provides homelessness applicants with separate review and court appeal rights they can use to challenge the decision in their case. And only the courts have the power to overturn a council’s homelessness decision.
10. The Council provided Ms B with information on the timescales for making an appeal to the county court. Ms B did not make an appeal in 2018. When Ms B raised her complaint, the Council considered her explanation of why she had been unable to pursue an appeal at the time and said it would, exceptionally, provide a further review and then appeal. Ms B has not made an appeal.
11. The Council has provided Ms B with clear explanations of why it considered the property was suitable. The Council had considered information Ms B provided about the areas where she felt she would be safe and those where she would be at risk. It would be for the courts to decide if the Council has made an error in law in its decision making. While Ms B has not made an appeal to the county court, it is reasonable to expect her to have done so if she wished to challenge the Council’s decision.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Ms B to have used her right of appeal to the county court on a point of law.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman