Summary: Miss B complained the Council delayed progressing her homelessness application, failed to provide suitable accommodation and did not award her the correct housing priority. Miss B said this left her and her daughter in unsuitable accommodation and prevented her from joining the housing register. The Council failed to meet its duties under the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice to Miss B.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained the Council did not:
• Provide suitable interim and temporary accommodation.
• Pay her first month’s rent in temporary accommodation as promised.
• Award her the correct housing priority.
• Progress her homelessness application in a timely manner, give her accurate information or keep in regular contact.
2. Miss B said this left her and her daughter in unsuitable accommodation and prevented her from joining the housing register.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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.
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:
• Miss B’s complaint and the information she provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines;
• the Ombudsman report ‘Home truths: how well are councils implementing the Homelessness Reduction Act’; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
8. Miss B and the Council commented on a draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance: homelessness

9. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2021 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
10. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for help from the Council:
• he or she is likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• he or she has been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. [Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5)]
11. 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)
12. If a council has ‘reason to believe’ someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it must take a homelessness application and make inquiries. The threshold for taking an application is low. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular council department. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5) 
13. After completing inquiries, the council must give the applicant a decision in writing. If it is an adverse decision, the letter must fully explain the reasons.  All letters must include information about the right to request a review and the timescale for doing so. (Housing Act 1996, section 184, from 3 April 2018 Homelessness Code of Guidance 18.32 and 18.33)
14. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless it will owe them the main homelessness duty. Generally, the council carries out the duty by arranging temporary accommodation until it makes a suitable offer of social housing or private rented accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
15. The council must assess an applicant’s case and develop a personal housing plain if it is satisfied the applicant is:
• homeless or threatened with homelessness, and
• eligible for assistance. (Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, section 189A)
16. The council's assessment must consider:
• the circumstances that caused the applicant to become homeless or threatened with homelessness,
• the housing needs of the applicant including what accommodation would be suitable for the applicant and any persons with whom the applicant resides or might reasonably be expected to reside (“other relevant persons”), and
• what support would be necessary for the applicant and any other relevant persons to be able to have and retain suitable accommodation. (Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, section 189A)
17. The assessment will help the council to understand the applicant’s particular situation and to tailor the support it provides under the relief duty, both directly and through engaging relevant specialist services, accordingly. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 13.6) 
18. After the assessment, the council must develop a personal housing plan. This will include:
• any steps the applicant should take to secure and retain suitable accommodation, and
• the steps the council will take to support the applicant. (Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, section 189A)
19. Councils are required to notify applicants of the assessments they have made and provide written personalised housing plans. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 11.5) 
20. The relief duty will end when 56 days has passed and the council is satisfied the applicant has a priority need and is homeless unintentionally, or on refusal of a final accommodation offer. The council must notify the applicant when its relief duty has ended. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 14.2 and 14.3) 

Legislation and guidance: housing allocations

21. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing.  All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme.  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
22. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:
• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
23. The council may give 'additional preference' to applicants within the reasonable preference categories, provided they have urgent housing needs.

Council’s policies: housing allocation scheme

24. The Council’s priority bands for its housing register include:
• Band C is non-urgent priority. This includes homeless people who have been provided with emergency or temporary accommodation.
• Band D is for those considered adequately housed. People with band D priority are disqualified from bidding on social housing.

What happened

25. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
26. Miss B contacted the Council in February 2020. She said she and her young daughter had been sofa surfing for two years between family and friends. She told the Council she could not stay with them anymore and was homeless. The Council started to make enquiries. It spoke to Miss C’s mother who confirmed she was threatened with homelessness from her address.
27. The Council wrote to Miss B in April 2020 and accepted a relief duty. It did not assess her housing needs or create a personal housing plan.
28. In May 2020, Miss B asked the Council to reassess her housing priority as she was in Band D. She said she was homeless and staying with friends whose accommodation was overcrowded. The Council reviewed her case and awarded her Band C.
29. In August 2020, Miss B made a homeless application. She said she could not stay with her friend any longer and asked the Council to provide her and her daughter with accommodation. The Council decided it owed her a relief duty and sent her notification of this with its assessment and her personal housing plan.
30. An internal email queried why Miss B’s housing officer had not ended the relief duty from April 2020 or developed a personal housing plan. The officer said he closed Miss B’s homelessness case because she could stay with a friend.
31. The Council placed Miss B and her daughter in interim accommodation. The room was self-contained, had cooking facilities and an en-suite bathroom. It was out of the Council area. Miss B later complained the accommodation was dirty, there were ant infestations and evidence of mice.
32. The Council told her a housing association had a two-bedroomed flat available. The Council supported Miss B to apply for the supported housing scheme offered by the housing association. However, the flat available was one-bedroomed. Miss B says she felt pressured to accept this accommodation by her housing office who told her it would only be for six months while she bid for a two-bedroom property on the housing register. Miss B accepted the property and asked the Council to pay the housing association her deposit and first month’s rent.
33. Miss B moved into supported housing in August 2020. The flat comprised of a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom which was outside the suite of rooms. The tenancy agreement said it was temporary accommodation under the Council’s relief duty and to move on she would need to:
• be rehoused by the Council; or
• find private rented accommodation.
34. The Council emailed Miss B and told her it had ended its relief duty and closed her homelessness case because she had secured an assured shorthold tenancy.
35. In September 2020, Miss B chased the Council for a decision about her housing priority given her change in circumstances. The Council told her it had reduced her housing priority to Band D because she was suitably housed.
36. Miss B asked the Council to review her housing priority and its decision to close her homeless application. She said she had accepted the housing association flat on the understanding it was temporary, and she would be able to bid on the housing register.
37. In November 2020, the Council responded to her homelessness application review request. It told her she was no longer homeless because she had accepted an assured short-term tenancy. It explained the accommodation met her and her daughter’s needs.
38. Miss B contacted her housing officer in November 2020. She told him she was in arrears with the housing association because the Council had not paid her deposit and first month’s rent. She said the housing association was threatening to evict her. Her housing officer asked for evidence of her arrears and for the housing association to confirm how much she owed. Her housing officer left the Council.
39. Miss B made a formal complaint. She said the Council had given her the wrong information. She sent a copy of her tenancy agreement to show the accommodation was temporary and said the Council had a responsibility to rehouse her.
40. The Council sent Miss B its housing priority review decision. It upheld its decision to award her Band D priority. It explained she was deficient by one bedroom, and it only gave a higher priority if a household was deficient by two or more. It stated the accommodation was affordable, she had no medical priority and it had considered its duties under the Equality Act.

Council response to enquiries

41. The Council reviewed the case after I made enquiries and decided it owed Miss B the main homeless duty. The Council wrote to Miss B in August 2021 and explained there were shortcomings in how it dealt with her homeless application. It said it accepted the main housing duty for her and had awarded her band C priority, backdating it to April 2020 when it first accepted a relief duty. It apologised for the errors it made and the distress it caused. It offered to pay her £500 to compensate her for the distress caused.
42. The Council explained it found recruiting staff difficult and relied on agency staff who may not have fully understood the Council’s policies and procedures. It said it was carrying out a review of the Housing Needs Service and hoped to recruit permanent staff.

Analysis

43. The Council failed to meet its duties under Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.
44. When Miss B approached the Council in February 2020 to say she was homeless the Council should have considered whether it owed her a duty under section 188 of the Housing Act to provide interim accommodation. The Council has no evidence it did so. This was fault.
45. The Council took two and a half months to decide it owed Miss B the relief duty under the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017. The Council should have made this decision sooner and its delay was fault. Once it accepted the relief duty it should have assessed her and developed a personal housing plan. It did neither which was fault.
46. If it had not been for the Council’s fault, what happened in August 2020 would have happened in February 2020. If the Council had fulfilled its duties in February 2020, Miss B would have accessed suitable accommodation five months earlier. The Council’s fault caused Miss B five months avoidable distress living in unsuitable accommodation. The Council offered Miss B a payment of £500 for distress. I consider a payment of £1,000 to be a more suitable financial remedy for this distress.
47. Miss B states the Council said it would pay her deposit and first month’s rent to secure her flat in supported accommodation. The Council’s records are incomplete, and it cannot evidence what was said to Miss B. In response to enquiries, the Council accepted her housing officer may have thought this was possible. Given the lack of evidence from the Council and the emails Miss B supplied, on the balance of probability, I believe Miss B’s housing officer agreed to this. The Council has not done so, and Miss B is now in arrears. Giving Miss B incorrect information was fault, and the Council should honour the agreement its housing officer made. The supported accommodation did not require a deposit, the Council should pay the equivalent of Miss B’s first month’s rent.
48. The Council’s records are incomplete. However, on the balance of probabilities, the Council gave Miss B the misleading information about paying her deposit and first month’s rent for her housing association property and that her housing association property was temporary, and she would be able to continue to bid on the housing register. The Council was at fault for having incomplete records and for giving Miss B misinformation. Miss B was put to time and trouble chasing the Council because of the misinformation it gave her. The Council should make a further financial payment to recognise this injustice.

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Agreed action

49. Within one month of the final decision, the Council will:
• Pay Miss B £1,000 for the distress of living in unsuitable accommodation; this includes the £500 already offered by the Council.
• Pay Miss B £250 for time and trouble.
• Pay the equivalent of Miss B’s first month’s rent for her housing association flat.
• Backdate Miss B’s housing priority to February 2020 when she told the Council she was homeless.
50. Within two months of the final decision, the Council will:
• Complete its Housing Needs Service review.
• Provide training to its housing officers on its duties under the Housing Act 1996, the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and case recording.
51. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with evidence these actions have been completed.

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Final decision

52. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. Miss B was caused an injustice by the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman