Summary: Miss X complained the Council incorrectly ended its main housing duty to her and made a safeguarding referral to Children’s Services. We find fault with how the Council decided to end its main housing duty to Miss X. We recommend the Council apologise to Miss X and make a payment to recognise the uncertainty caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council incorrectly ended its main housing duty to her and gave social services a misleading account of her circumstances. Miss X also complains the Council wrongly said it offered her private rented accommodation. Miss X says this has caused her real distress and the Council has failed to recognise this.

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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’. 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. 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

4. I spoke to Miss X about her complaint and considered information she provided. I also considered information received from the Council.
5. 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

Relevant law and policy

6. The Housing Act 1996 (“the Act”), amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, outlines councils’ duties to those who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
7. Where a person is at threat of homelessness a council must act to secure the person’s accommodation so they do not become homeless. This is called the prevention duty. This duty ends after 56 days unless there is a change in circumstance.
8. The Council must write to the person where it decides to end the duty, giving the reasons why it has ended and notifying the applicant of their right to request a review of that decision.
9. Where a person is actually homeless, the relief duty may apply. This requires the council to take reasonable steps to help the applicant secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months.
10. The duty to arrange interim accommodation during the relief stage is triggered as soon as the authority has reason to believe that an applicant may be eligible, homeless, and in priority need. This is a low threshold. It is an absolute duty and the authority cannot postpone it due to lack of available resources. We would expect any offer of interim accommodation to be in writing and include the name and address of the accommodation offered.
11. The relief duty ends after 56 days. The council must then complete inquiries promptly to decide what further duty is owed.
12. The council must write to the person where it decides to end the duty, giving the reasons why it has ended and notifying the applicant of their right to request a review of that decision.
13. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved, a council will owe the main housing duty to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally.
14. The main housing duty is a duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation until such a time as the duty is ended, either by an offer of settled accommodation or for another specified reason.

What happened

15. Miss X was threatened with homelessness as her landlord had served her with notice to vacate her rented property. The council assessed Miss X’s situation, added her to its housing register and accepted a prevention duty to her. The Council issued Miss X with a personalised housing plan (PHP).
16. By June 2022, Miss X’s landlord was seeking an accelerated possession order through the courts.
17. The Council’s contact notes show it was in regular contact with Miss X, and recommended she consider several properties that were being advertised for private rent locally. Miss X viewed some of these properties, but not others as she deemed them to be unsuitable for her children’s needs. Miss X also continued to search for properties independently.
18. In September 2022 a judge instructed Miss X to vacate the property. The Council wrote to Miss X to confirm the prevention duty had come to an end and it now owed her a relief duty. The Council said it would try to find temporary accommodation for Miss X while it continued searching for alternative accommodation.
19. In October 2022, prior to her eviction date, Miss X moved into temporary accommodation at a friend’s home and notified the Council of this.
20. The Council’s contact notes show it continued to suggest locally advertised properties Miss X could consider. Again, Miss X viewed some of these but not others as she deemed them to be unsuitable for her children’s needs. Miss X also continued to search for properties independently.
21. In January 2023 Miss X pointed out the Council’s 56-day relief duty was over and asked what the next steps would be. The Council acknowledged this and agreed to review Miss X’s homelessness application.
22. On 27 February, the Council wrote to Miss X to confirm its relief duty had come to an end and it had accepted a main housing duty to her. The Council offered Miss X temporary accommodation at a local hotel. The Council said this was a final offer of temporary accommodation and it believed this was a suitable property for Miss X as it was affordable for her, had the correct space, was in her local area and presented no risk of violence or harassment to her or her children. It also explained Miss X had the right to ask for suitability to be reviewed if she disagreed but must notify the Council within 21 days.
23. Miss X told the Council she would prefer to stay with her friend until permanent accommodation could be arranged than move into a different temporary accommodation.
24. The Council wrote to Miss X on 28 February to say it had ended its main housing duty to her as she had declined the offer of temporary accommodation. As it now recorded Miss X and her children as homeless, the Council also made a safeguarding referral to Children’s Services.
25. Miss X complained to the Council that day and the Council’s contact notes show she was very distressed by its decision. The Council reviewed Miss X’s case that same day and wrote to her to agree the hotel was not suitable alternative accommodation and so it had reversed its decision to end its main housing duty. The Council accepted that Miss X did not want to move to a new temporary accommodation and agreed this would not affect her housing application.
26. Miss X says a social worker contacted her following the referral to Children’s Services but agreed they did not need to be involved.
27. Miss X complained to the Council in March 2023. Miss X said she did not think the Council should have discharged its main housing duty to her or contacted Children’s Services and this had caused her a lot of stress.
28. The Council responded to explain it had made the offer of temporary accommodation as soon as it accepted its main housing duty. It said Miss X’s refusal of this entitled it to end that duty. However, on review, it agreed the hotel was not suitable alternative accommodation and it reversed its decision the same day so it had not negatively affected Miss X or her place on its housing register. The Council apologised for any distress caused and said it had raised this with its team to prevent recurrence. The Council also said it had offered Miss X several private rented accommodations.
29. Miss X responded to say the Council had never offered her any private accommodation. She said it had simply sent adverts for property that was available in the area that she had already seen. Miss X said the Council’s apology was insincere and it had not apologised for making a safeguarding referral.
30. The Council replied to Miss X to say it had offered her multiple private rented accommodations. It also said it had a duty to report any safeguarding concerns, including becoming homeless.
31. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in March 2023.

Analysis

32. The Council had a duty to offer temporary accommodation to Miss X when it accepted a main housing duty to her. The Council explained why it felt the temporary accommodation it offered was suitable as well as Miss X’s right to ask for suitability to be reviewed. I do not find the Council at fault for making an offer of temporary accommodation.
33. However, Miss X was already in temporary accommodation in a friend’s home at that time and was happy to stay there until permanent accommodation could be found. This is a reasonable request, but the Council does not appear to have considered it and given its view before deciding to end its main housing duty. I find the Council at fault here. This caused Miss X real distress and uncertainty, which is injustice.
34. After Miss X contacted it, the Council was quick to review its decision and accept it should not have ended its main housing duty to her. The Council mitigated the injustice to Miss X by reversing its decision the same day and by confirming it did not affect her position on the housing register. However, my view is the Council ought to do more to recognise the distress caused to Miss X.
35. The Council has a duty to refer any safeguarding concerns to Children’s Services and I would not find it at fault for doing so. However, if not for the Council’s error in ending its main housing duty to Miss X, it would not have done this in her case. The social worker who spoke to Miss X quickly acknowledged there was no reason for them to be involved, but this still caused distress for Miss X, which is injustice.
36. Miss X has said the Council is wrong to say it offered her any private rented accommodation. I have looked through the Council’s contact notes, and I can see multiple instances where it suggested private rented properties for Miss X to consider, but not that it ever formally offered one to her to move into. I think there is fault with the wording the Council used in its complaint response. However, my view is the injustice to Miss X is minimal uncertainty.

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Agreed action

37. To remedy the injustice identified above, I recommend the Council carry out the following actions within one month:
• Issue an apology to Miss X for the injustice identified above
• Pay Miss X £100 for the uncertainty and distress caused when it ended its main housing duty and made a referral to Children’s Services
38. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

39. I find the Council at fault for how it decided to end its main housing duty to Miss X. The Council agreed with my recommendations, and I have ended my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman