Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council assessed his mobility and bedroom needs for a Housing Register application and about the suitability of his temporary accommodation. There was no fault in the assessment of his needs for the Housing Register application. It would have been reasonable for Mr X to have used his right of appeal to the court to challenge the review decision that his temporary accommodation is suitable for his needs.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that:
• the Council mishandled his Housing Register application because it did not properly assess his housing needs. He says it placed him in the wrong mobility category and did not accept he needs a one bedroom property, rather than a studio flat, due to his disability;
• the temporary accommodation the Council placed him in is not suitable for his needs. There is not enough space to do physiotherapy exercises and he cannot safely use the toilet and shower because of his disability;
• an officer was rude and dismissive during a telephone call.

Back to top

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’. 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)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have:
• spoken to Mr X;
• considered all the information he sent me;
• read the relevant housing records and an Occupational Therapist’s report about Mr X’s housing needs;
• seen the Occupational Therapist’s photographs of Mr X’s bathroom;
• considered the relevant law and the Council’s housing allocations policy.
6. I gave Mr X and the Council the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision

Back to top

What I found

Assessment for the Housing Register

7. Every local housing authority must publish a housing allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating properties.  It must allocate properties in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
8. The Council is a partner in a local choice-based lettings scheme – the Home Connections Scheme. This allows applicants on the Housing Register to bid for social housing properties advertised weekly on the Home Connections website.

Mobility criteria

9. The Council’s housing allocations scheme says it assesses all applicants who qualify to join the Housing Register to decide what type of property matches their mobility and access requirements. They are then placed in one of the following mobility categories:
    

Category 1:

applicants with a medical diagnosis which requires them to use a wheelchair permanently and all the time;

Category 2:

applicants with a medical diagnosis which requires a wheelchair accessible property although they may not need to use a wheelchair inside;

Category 3:

applicants with severe mobility problems who require a ground floor or lifted property with level access and no internal stairs;

Category 4:

all other applicants.

The bedroom standard

10. The Council’s housing allocations policy includes a bedroom standard which determines how many bedrooms each household needs. A single person is generally eligible for a studio (defined as one bedsitting room with a kitchen, bathroom/WC). They cannot bid for larger properties advertised on the Home Connections scheme.
11. If a single applicant requests a one bedroom property on medical grounds, the Council asks its Medical Adviser to consider whether the person’s medical condition means they would benefit from a separate bedroom. The service manager then considers this advice and makes the decision.
12. The policy also says a single applicant is not usually entitled to a property with a separate bedroom, rather than a studio, due to a medical condition because they already benefit from having a private living space which they do not share with others.

Homelessness – the duty to provide suitable accommodation and the right to a review and appeal

13. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and any members of their household. This 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)
14. Homeless applicants may request a statutory review within 21 days of being notified of certain decisions, including the suitability of temporary accommodation offered under the main housing duty.
15. The review must be carried out by someone who was not involved in the original decision and who is senior to the original decision maker. The reviewing officer needs to consider any information relevant to the period before the decision was made (even if only obtained afterwards) as well as any new relevant information the Council has obtained since the decision. A decision on a suitability of accommodation review should be made within eight weeks. The review decision letter must inform the applicant about their right to appeal to the county court on a point of law, and the period within which to appeal.

Mr X’s circumstances

16. Mr X is a young single man. He suffered a knee injury a few years ago which causes his knee to lock or give way. He uses two crutches to support him when he walks. He says he has had some falls when his knee gives way. Mr X is also being treated by his GP and the community mental health team for anxiety and depression. Mr X’s brother visits every day to help care for him.
17. In September 2021 the Council accepted it owed Mr X the main housing duty because he was homeless and in priority need. It placed him in temporary accommodation on the 20th floor of a block of flats. The lift stopped at the 19th floor so Mr X had to walk up the final flight of stairs to get to his studio flat. Mr X left this property in mid-October 2021 because the landlord asked the Council to hand back the property.
18. In early October 2021 the Council referred Mr X’s case to its Medical Adviser. It asked for advice on Mr X’s mobility needs and whether he needed a one bedroom property for the purpose of his Housing Register application. In the Medical Adviser’s opinion, there was no evidence that Mr X’s condition was so severe or debilitating that he could not manage steps. She therefore recommended mobility category 4. She also noted he did not need overnight or 24 hour care and said he did not need a separate bedroom for medical reasons.
19. Mr X moved to his current temporary accommodation in mid-October 2021. It is a ground floor studio flat with an ensuite bathroom. Mr X told me he can manage the single step to the front door. But he does not consider the accommodation is suitable because there is not enough space to do physiotherapy exercises. He cannot use the shower because it is too small and there is no shower seat. The toilet is too low and positioned close to the wall so he cannot lower himself safely on to it.
20. After Mr X moved to the flat, an officer in the Housing Solutions Service informed him that he agreed with the Medical Adviser’s recommendations. Mr X was therefore in mobility Category 4 and eligible to bid for a studio flat on the Home Connections scheme. The letter explained Mr X’s right to request a review of this decision.
21. Mr X requested a review. In early November 2021 the Medical Review Officer wrote to Mr X. She upheld the original decision. Mr X says the Medical Review Officer did not follow the correct decision-making process because she based her decision on out of date medical evidence and did not ask him to complete a new medical assessment form. Mr X said the Medical Review Officer was also rude and dismissive when he called her to challenge the way she made the decision. Mr X says the Council told him the call was not recorded.
22. Within a few days of moving to the studio flat, Mr X complained to the Council’s Customer Feedback team about the suitability of his temporary accommodation. He said he could not lower himself on to the toilet and there were no support rails in the bathroom. He also mentioned other defects. The Council correctly treated this as a request for a section 202 review of the suitability of the accommodation and forwarded it to the Review team in the Housing Solutions service. The Review Officer was also asked to consider Mr X’s challenge to the Medical Review Officer’s decision about the mobility category and his bedroom need.
23. Mr X complained to us in late January 2022 while he was waiting for the section 202 review decision.
24. The Council’s records show that the Review team:
• Invited Mr X to send any evidence he wanted the Review Officer to consider in the review;
• Sent a letter and medical questionnaire to Mr X’s GP and considered the information he provided;
• Commissioned a housing needs report and photographs from an Occupational Therapist who visited Mr X in late January 2022 to assess his needs;
• Considered an up-to-date medical self-assessment form Mr X completed in January 2022;
• Sought further advice from the Council’s Medical Adviser;
25. The Occupational Therapist’s photographs show the arrangement of the toilet and shower.
26. She reported Mr X could manage one to two steps and needed a property without internal stairs. The shower in the studio flat was too small for him to use safely and it was not possible to install a shower seat. She noted Mr X could not sit on the toilet because it was too low and too close to the wall. She also said there was not enough space for him to do floor-based physiotherapy exercises. She did not make any recommendation about whether he needed a one bedroom property.
27. After considering all this evidence, the Review Officer sent Mr X the review decision in mid-March. She changed Mr X’s mobility category from 4 to 3 after considering the Occupational Therapist’s report. She said Mr X’s current studio flat met the Mobility Category 3 criteria so there was no need to move him.
28. The Review Officer also decided the studio flat was suitable for Mr X’s needs. She said he could do physiotherapy exercises in the nearby park. She also told him Council and Housing Association studio flats would be larger than his current temporary accommodation. She encouraged him to start bidding for these properties on the Home Connections scheme because he had not bid for any properties yet.
29. The decision letter also explained Mr X’s right to appeal to the County Court within 21 days if he wished to challenge the review decision.
30. Mr X is satisfied with the Council’s decision to move him to Category 3 to reflect his mobility needs. But he believes he should be entitled to bid for one bedroom properties due to his disability.
31. Mr X says the review decision letter did not address the fact that he could not use the shower and toilet. He says he did not appeal to the County Court because he does not understand the process. He told me he could not make contact with any advice centres who could support him with making an appeal.

My analysis

Mobility category

32. The Review Officer decided Mr X met the criteria for the Category 3 mobility group after considering the recommendations made by the Occupational Therapist. This has resolved this part of the complaint and we cannot achieve any more for Mr X.

Bedroom need assessment

33. The Ombudsman will not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application if it was carried out in line with its published allocations scheme.
    The Council’s scheme says a single person is eligible for a studio flat. There are only limited circumstances when the Council will make an exception.
34. Mr X requested a separate bedroom for reasons relating to his disability. In line with the allocations policy, this was referred to the Medical Review Officer. Before making a decision, she considered the recent opinion from the Medical Adviser and other evidence in the records including Mr X’s original medical self-assessment form.
35. Mr X believes he should have been given an opportunity to submit an up to date medical self-assessment form and new evidence before the Medical Review Officer made her decision. However the allocations policy does not require that. I also took into account that Mr X was able to submit new evidence and an up to date self-assessment form in January 2022 for the statutory review of the suitability of his temporary accommodation. The Review Officer made extensive inquiries then and obtained reports from Mr X’s GP, the Occupational Therapist and advice from the Council’s Medical Adviser. She reached the same conclusion as the Medical Review Officer that a studio flat was suitable for Mr X’s needs. The March 2022 review decision effectively supersedes the November 2021 decision.
36. For this reason, I found no fault in the way the Council decided Mr X is entitled to bid for studio flats, rather than one bedroom flats, on the Home Connections scheme.

Suitability of temporary accommodation

37. Mr X says his current temporary accommodation is not suitable for reasons relating to his disability. The Occupational Therapist’s report described the particular difficulties he has with the shower and toilet. Mr X is unhappy that these matters were not addressed in the review decision letter. He therefore considers it is deficient.
38. There are two important points to make here. First, the review decision was made after Mr X had complained to us so it is not something we investigated. Secondly, the Ombudsman generally expects homeless applicants to use the statutory review and appeal procedures to challenge decisions. The Review Officer informed Mr X of his right of appeal to the County Court and the timescale for making an appeal.
39. Mr X told me he does not understand the County Court appeal process. I accept that. But we would usually expect a homeless applicant to seek advice promptly from an advice centre, law centre or solicitor to find out if there are grounds for making an appeal. We do not usually exercise discretion to investigate when:
• the law gives someone a specific right of appeal to a Court;
• the Council informed the person of this right; and
• it would be reasonable to expect the person to have used this remedy.

Complaint about conduct of Medical Review Officer

40. The Council told Mr X this telephone call was not recorded. So there is no way we can establish precisely what the officer said to Mr X or the tone of the conversation. For this reason, I have not pursued this part of the complaint further.

Back to top

Final decision

41. I have completed the investigation and found no fault in the way the Council assessed Mr X’s bedroom need for his Home Connections application. The Council has satisfactorily resolved the dispute about Mr X’s mobility needs.
42. I decided not to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the suitability of his temporary accommodation because it would have been reasonable for him to have used his right of appeal to the County Court to challenge the review decision, including whether a studio flat met his needs. He can still explore the option of making a late appeal.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman