Summary: Miss X complained the Council wrongly removed her from the housing register and failed to move her to a suitable property. She said she suffered distress from living in unsuitable accommodation and was denied the ability to bid on properties. We did not find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council promised to move her to alternative accommodation in August 2021 but failed to do so.
2. She also complained about the tenancy at her current property. She said she was not told the tenancy was permanent. She said the Council was dishonest about the tenancy and wrongly removed her from the housing register.
3. Miss X said this meant she lived in unsuitable accommodation and was denied the right to bid on properties through the housing register.

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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. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

6. I spoke to Miss X and considered the information she provided with her complaint. I made enquiries with the Council and considered its response a long with relevant law and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

8. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless it will owe them the main homelessness duty. Generally, a 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)
9. Section 206 of the Housing Act says the council may perform the main housing duty by:

• providing accommodation itself; or
• securing accommodation from someone else; or
• giving the applicant advice and assistance that enables them to secure accommodation.

10. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation it arranges for homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
11. Councils must consider the location of accommodation when they consider if it is suitable for the applicant and members of their household. If a council places an applicant outside its district, it must consider, among other matters:

• the distance of the accommodation from the “home” district;
• the significance of any disruption to the education of members of the applicant’s household; and
• the proximity and accessibility to local services, amenities and transport. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 2012)

12. Applicants have a statutory right to request a review of the suitability of accommodation provided after the authority has accepted the main housing duty. The applicant must usually request a review of their homelessness application decision within 21 days of the Council notifying the applicant of their decision. The Council has eight weeks to complete the review. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
13. All councils are required to have a published allocation scheme which sets out how they assess and prioritise applications for housing. Councils are required to give ‘reasonable preference’ to certain categories of people.
14. Councils must notify applicants in writing of the following decisions and give reasons:

• that the applicant is not eligible for an allocation;
• that the applicant is not a qualifying person;
• a decision not to award the applicant reasonable preference because of their unacceptable behaviour.

15. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
16. Section 206 says the authority may perform the main housing duty by:

• •providing accommodation itself; or
• •securing accommodation from someone else; or
• •giving the applicant advice and assistance that enables them to secure accommodation.

17. In practice, this means the council may provide accommodation from its own stock, arrange housing from another provider such as a registered provider of social housing (e.g. a Housing Association) or a private landlord.
18. Housing applicants can ask the council to review a wide range of decisions about their applications, including decisions about their housing priority.

What happened

19. What follows is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain all the information I reviewed during my investigation.
20. Miss X became homeless in 2019. The Council accepted it owed Miss X the housing duty. It discharged this duty by securing an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) in privately rented accommodation.
21. In 2020 Miss X asked for a suitability review but the Council refused because it was late.
22. In March 2021 Miss X complained to the Council. She complained:

• The Council was wrong to refuse her review request.
• The Council incorrectly told Miss X the property was temporary not an AST.
• The Council failed to address the issues of disrepair and anti-social behaviour.

23. The Council provided its final complaint response in August 2021. It told Miss X:

• She accepted and signed an AST for her accommodation in April 2019. This discharged the main housing duty.
• The offer of an AST meant her recognised housing need was no longer applicable for her housing application. Therefore, she was removed from the housing register.
• It was willing to carry out a suitability assessment and offer an alternative AST in line this.

24. The Council completed a suitability assessment in August 2021. Miss X gave updated information about her medical needs and welfare issues connected with the property and location she was living in. Based on this information the assessment recommended Miss X moved to a three bedroom, ground floor property or a property with a lift.
25. Miss X wanted to stay in the borough because of her family connections and support network. The Council could not find a suitable property in its borough. It asked Miss X if she would be willing to widen the search area to increase the likelihood of finding a property.
26. Miss X was unhappy with the Council’s response and complained to the Ombudsman.

My findings

27. I have summarised my findings under the main headings of Miss X’s complaint.

The tenancy

28. Miss X says the Council told her the property she accepted in April 2019 was temporary. She says the Council was dishonest in its communication about the tenancy and she did not receive the Council’s letter discharging its duty which included her right to request a review.
29. The Council says Miss X was sent a letter about the accommodation offer in early April 2019. She signed the AST on 10 April and provided her passport as proof of identity. The Council said this was routine practice for all tenants at that time. Miss X says she did not attend the appointment and did not receive the letter.
30. Miss X signed an AST agreement for the property in April 2019. The agreement included information about the tenancy. I do not intend to uphold this part of Miss X’s complaint.

The housing register

31. I did not find fault with the Council for removing Miss X’s right to bid on the housing register.
32. Miss X was accepted onto the Council’s housing register when she applied in 2019 and was given a reasonable preference due to being homeless. When the Council provided Miss X with an AST, she was not longer homeless, and it discharged its housing duty. This meant Miss X no longer had a recognised housing need because she was adequately housed.
33. During the complaint process the Council agreed to carry out a new suitability assessment of her AST property. This found Miss X needed an additional bedroom and a ground floor property, or a property with a lift. It would have been better if the Council told Miss X to update her housing application to reflect her change in circumstances and needs. It could have assessed this under its published allocation scheme. But I would not go far as to say this was fault. It is up to the applicant to keep their information up to date.
34. It remains open to Miss X to update her housing application information. If the Council decides Miss X is eligible for its housing scheme it should consider backdating the decision to the date of the suitability assessment.

Moving Miss X to a different property

35. I did not find fault with the council for failing to move Miss X to an alternative AST property.
36. The Council used its discretion to offer Miss X a move to an alternative AST property during its complaint handling.
37. The Council was not under any obligation to do this. Since it told Miss X it would find her an alternative suitable property it has made efforts to do this. It has faced challenges because of the availability of suitable properties within the areas Miss X was willing to consider.
38. It was not fault for the Council to ask Miss X to consider widening her search area to increase the chance of finding a suitable property. The Council continues to work to find a suitable property.

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Final decision

39. I did not intend to find fault with the Council. I completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman