Summary: Miss B complains about how long she has been living in temporary accommodation and the condition of it. There was fault by the Council in its response to the disrepair issues. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Miss B.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains:
• about the condition of the temporary accommodation where she has been living for five years. She considers the Council has been biased against her and accepted without making proper enquiries explanations given by the agents about why repairs have not been done;
• that she has not been allowed to bid on a two bedroom property;
• that she has been in temporary accommodation too long and the Council has not made her an offer of secure accommodation;
• about the accuracy of information held about her on the Council’s records.
2. She says that as a result she has been living in unsatisfactory accommodation for longer than she should have been.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the first three points. I explain at the end of the statement why I have not investigated the last point.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. 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)
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Miss B and spoke to her. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Miss B and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Background

8. Miss B has been living in temporary accommodation since the Council accepted that it had the full housing duty to her as a homeless person over thirteen years ago. She has lived at her current property for five years. Her daughter and baby also live with her. She complains the property is damp and there are outstanding repairs.

Repairs

9. Miss B considers the Council has failed to ensure the agents of the property carried out repairs. The agents told the Council that she had refused access and had been abusive or threatening to contractors and that is why repairs had not been completed. Miss B says the allegations are unfounded and the agents are saying that to avoid their repairing responsibilities. She considers the Council has just accepted the agents’ statements without any evidence or considering her position and views.
10. In January 2019 contractors were working at Miss B’s property. They left before the work was completed. When Miss B complained the agents said that it was because she had been harassing the contractors. There was then correspondence between the Council, the agents and Miss B. There was no conclusion and the works were not completed.
11. Miss B complained through a support agency to the Council in March. The complaint covered a number of issues but referred to longstanding problems of mould and damp in the property and outstanding repairs. The Council wrote to the agents saying the work should be completed.
12. There is nothing to show any works were done, or that the Council did anything to check on the matter with the agents. The next contact I have seen about the repairs is in August when Miss B complains again and refers to the mould and the repairs. The Council responds in September about some of the matters Miss B has raised but does not address the issue of outstanding repairs. Miss B replies immediately reiterating her concerns.
13. It appears the Council then does nothing until January 2020 when it decides to arrange for an independent inspection of the property. This is quickly done. This identifies some repairs. The inspector is uncertain about the cause of the damp. He says it could be caused by the lifestyle of the occupier but he would like to revisit on a rainy day. It’s not clear if this happens. But the Council issues a notice of disrepair to the agents at the end of January.
14. The agents contact Miss B wanting to arrange access to the property but she is not available for almost a month. Not very long after Miss B is available again lockdown happens. She chases up the agent for the repairs in May and they are completed in June.
15. The overarching issue here is that the agents say it is difficult to find contractors to work in Miss B’s property because of her behaviour. Miss B says this is not true and asks for proof. The agents have repairing obligations and if they are not meeting those obligations the Council needs to establish why that is and to take action if necessary. The Council did correspond with the agents in 2019 but I do not consider clear conclusions were reached. In March 2019 the Council instructed the agents to arrange to complete the works but that did not happen. When Miss B complained that still did not prompt any action and it was not until January 2020, a year after the works had been left unfinished, that the Council served a disrepair notice. The delay in getting to grips with this is fault and has meant Miss B has lived in a property in an unsatisfactory condition for longer than she should.

Allegations about Miss B

16. As I mention above Miss B considers the managing agents are biased against her and that the Council has accepted reports made about her without question. I do find fault by the Council in it failing to ensure repairs were done but have not come to any view on why that was.
17. There was a complaint made about Miss B in summer 2019 which the Council asked Miss B to comment on it. Miss B complained about the outcome and the Council responded. I do not consider there is any evidence of fault in the Council’s actions here.
18. I explain at the end of this statement why I am not going to consider further Miss B’s concerns about information held about her by the Council.

Permanent accommodation

19. When Miss B’s daughter turned 21 the Council would no longer include her on Miss B’s application for rehousing. This is in accordance with the Council’s policy. This meant that Miss B could only bid on one bedroom properties. The situation now is that the Council has accepted Miss B’s daughter is her carer and therefore Miss B can bid on two bedroom properties.
20. There was no fault in the Council’s decision that her daughter could not be included on the application when she was 21 as that was in accordance with the policy.
21. I recognise Miss B’s unhappiness at how long she has been in temporary accommodation but there is nothing to suggest there has been any fault by the Council. Miss B has been bidding on properties but unfortunately has not been offered one as she has not been highest in the ranking for the property.

Agreed action

22. The Council will apologise to Miss B for the failure to ensure the agents carried out repairs to the property and pay her £300. It should do this within a month of the final decision.

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Final decision

23. There was fault by the Council in its response to the disrepair issues. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Miss B.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

24. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has power to take enforcement action against a data controller for breach of one of the eight principles of information handling in the Data Protection Act 1998. I consider it would be appropriate for Miss B to refer any concerns she has about the accuracy of information held by the Council about her to the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman