Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to provide permanent housing. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council has not provided adequate housing even though she was accepted as homeless in 2016. Ms X wants the Council to provide long-term suitable accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the housing allocation policy and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Homelessness duty

5. A council can discharge its homelessness duty by providing accommodation in the private sector. If someone disagrees that a council is making a suitable offer they can ask for a review. Accommodation in the private sector is not permanent accommodation.

Allocation policy

6. The Council places people in bands on the housing register to help it determine priority for housing. People who need an extra bedroom qualify for band C.

What happened

7. The Council accepted a homelessness duty to Ms X in 2016 and provided temporary accommodation. In 2017 it offered a short-term tenancy with a charity. Ms X had reservations but accepted the offer. Ms X remains in this two bedroom flat and has a rolling monthly tenancy. The charity has not asked Ms X to leave and she is not facing homelessness.
8. Ms X lives with her partner and four children. The children are all under the age of ten. Ms X is in band C on the housing register because she needs another bedroom.
9. Ms X complains the Council has not offered permanent accommodation. She says the Council has failed to provide long-term help even though she was made homeless in 2016. Ms X describes herself as still being homeless and in temporary accommodation. She says the Council misled her in 2017. Ms X also says the flat is too small and an officer commented that her priority on the register is not high. Ms X says she is unable to find alternative accommodation because it is too expensive. Ms X wants the Council to provide a permanent suitable home.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation for the following reasons.
11. The law allows councils to discharge the homelessness duty by offering private sector properties. This means the Council can offer a home which does not have a permanent tenancy. If Ms X thought the offer was unsuitable she could have asked for a suitability review in 2017. It is now too late to complain to us about an offer which was made and accepted in 2017. I have not seen any good reason for Ms X to wait until 2021 before complaining to us about the offer. Ms X has been aware since at least 2018 that she did not have a permanent tenancy.
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council discharged its duty by providing Ms X with accommodation. Ms X remains in the same property and is not facing homelessness. Ms X needs a larger home but the Council’s decision to place her in band C is correct because she lacks one bedroom. Ms X does not meet any of the criteria for a higher band. The fact that an officer made a comment about the banding is not a council decision and does not mean the band is wrong.
13. Unfortunately Ms X may face a long wait for a larger home but that is due to the lack of housing rather than due to fault by the Council. I appreciate Ms X is frustrated by not having a permanent home but she is neither homeless nor is she in temporary accommodation; temporary accommodation is a home provided before the Council discharges the homelessness duty. Many people who are accepted as homeless are provided with a non-permanent tenancy and have to bid for a permanent home through the housing register.

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Final decision

14. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman