Summary: The Ombudsman does not find fault with the way the Council responded when Miss B became homeless. There was no evidence the Council was racially bias in the way it dealt with Miss B.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains about the way the Council responded when she was made homeless.
2. She says the Council:
• Failed to help her with her rent arrears which meant she was evicted by the housing association.
• Failed to take any action to protect her property.
• Offered her properties in areas where she could not live because of safety concerns.
• Was racially biased in its decision making.
3. Miss B says because of the above failures she became homeless, lost her possessions and suffered distress. She also says her children were made to live in unsuitable accommodation and were also caused distress because of the Council.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)
6. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
7. 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

8. I considered all the information Miss B provided with her complaint. I made enquiries with the Council and considered its response with the relevant law and guidance.
9. Miss B and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I carefully considered all the comments I received.

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What I found

Law and guidance

10. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
11. Councils must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
12. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
13. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
14. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of the decision on their homelessness application. There is also a right to request a review of the suitability of temporary accommodation provided once the Council has accepted the main homelessness duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 202)

What happened

15. Miss B lived in a housing association property with the children. She owed over £6000 in rent arrears. Due to the arrears she was evicted in May 2019 and approached the Council as homeless. The Council offered Miss B interim accommodation.
16. In June 2019 Miss B illegally moved back into the property she had been evicted from. The interim accommodation the Council organised became unavailable.
17. Miss B stayed in the housing association property until October 2019. She was evicted and the Council organised interim accommodation again. Miss B was arrested and missed out on the interim accommodation because she was in custody. On her release the Council provided her with a room in emergency accommodation.
18. Miss B refused the interim accommodation the Council offered her so it housed in an emergency out of hours room. The Council offered to pay the deposit and one months rent for Miss B to move into a privately rented property. It gave her details of three properties. Miss B declined this offer.
19. In November 2019 the Council offered Miss B a property, which she refused. The Council told Miss B because she had been offered a property she could no longer stay in the emergency room. Miss B refused to leave.
20. In December 2019 the Council decided Miss B was intentionally homeless. The Council wrote to Miss B and explained children’s services would arrange suitable temporary accommodation because she could not stay in the emergency room, it advised her not to refuse further offers of accommodation.
21. The Council were concerned about Miss B’s children. In February 2020 social services asked the Council to place Miss B on the highest band of the housing register, which it did.
22. The Council offered Miss B other properties in March, June and July 2020, which she refused. In September the Council made a final offer which would bring its duty to an end if she accepted or refused the property. It told Miss B she could request a review of the decision within 21 days. Miss B did not accept the property and did not request a review.
23. Miss B complained to the Council in March 2020 and it responded in July 2020. Miss B was unhappy with the response and complained to the Ombudsman.
24. In October 2020 the Council ended its housing duty and told Miss B she could not remain at the emergency housing after 19 October 2020. From this date she would be responsible for her own housing arrangements.

My findings

25. My findings and analysis are presented under the main headings of Miss B’s complaint.

The Council failed to pay Miss B’s rent arrears, which meant she was evicted and made homeless

26. I do not find fault with the Council. It did not fail to pay Miss B’s rent arrears. Miss B is responsible for her rent arrears, but the Council has discretion to provide financial assistance.
27. Miss B has asked the Council for help several times when she has been threatened with eviction because of rent arrears. On previous occasions the Council helped Miss B negotiate rent agreements with the housing association. On this occasion the Council asked the housing association about another rent agreement, but the housing association would not agree to this because Miss B’s rent account had been in arrears since 2014.
28. In response to my enquiries the Council said:

“The housing association were unwilling to provide a 12-month assured short hold tenancy in return for the Council clearing all arrears, court costs, and paying one month’s rent in advance. Neither was there any evidence to indicate that Miss B might ensure rent was paid going forwards”.

29. The Council evidenced how it tried to resolve the rent arrears and work with the housing association to prevent Miss B becoming homeless. I do not find fault with the way the Council responded to Miss B’s request for help.

Offered her properties in areas where she could not live because of safety concerns

30. I do not find fault with the Council for offering Miss B properties in areas she says she cannot live because of safety concerns.
31. The Council can only work with the information Miss B provides. It says it was not aware of the safety concerns Miss B refers to in her complaint. I have not seen any evidence Miss B told the Council about current safety concerns when it was trying to find her accommodation.
32. The Council offered Miss B several properties in different locations between May 2019 and October 2020. Miss B declined all these properties.

Other matters

33. Miss B says she was “treated with bias because of the colour of skin”. Miss B did not provide any evidence to support this part of her complaint. The Council’s actions are contrary to this accusation.
34. In response to my enquiries the Council said:

“This Council has gone to considerable lengths to support this family out of concern for both Miss B and her children. The Council has tried to work collaboratively with Miss B but this has proved to be an exceedingly difficult task as Miss B will revert to accusing the Council of being racist in its attitude or not caring about her children. It has been difficult to progress beyond this point as the Council’s ability to act and to help prevent or resolve homelessness depends on a client working with us. This has not been possible in Miss B’s case as we cannot force her to take up the suggestions, we have offered to resolve her homelessness. In the end, having examined the facts carefully, the Council is confident it did all it could to try and resolve Miss B’s homelessness, and indeed went beyond the duties imposed upon it by the homelessness legislation in an effort to provide housing to this family”.

35. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with Miss B’s requests for help or carried out its duty to her when she became homeless. The Council tried to help Miss B and went beyond its duty to her to try to provide her with housing. At every stage it was prevented from achieving this because of Miss B’s own actions.

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Final decision

36. I do not find fault with the Council.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

37. I did not investigate Miss B’s complaint the Council failed to protect her property. Miss B made a compensation claim to court in October 2020. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman