Summary: Mr X complained the Council placed he and his family in unsuitable temporary accommodation. Mr X says the Council moved his family to another property, but this was also unsuitable. We found fault with the Council for failing to provide suitable temporary accommodation for Mr X and his family for 21 months. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him £4,425 in addition to the £500 already paid.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council placed he and his family in unsuitable temporary accommodation in August 2021.
2. Mr X says he asked for a suitability review which found the property unsuitable for his family’s needs. Mr X says the Council moved he and his family to another unsuitable property.
3. Mr X says despite a suitability review of the new property finding this property unsuitable, they have remained in this property.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I have considered all the information Mr X provided. I have also asked the Council questions and requested information, and in turn have considered the Council’s response.
8. Mr X and the Council had opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

9. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure suitable accommodation for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
10. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household.  This duty applies to interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
11. Council’s must assess whether accommodation is suitable for each household individually. Whether accommodation is suitable will depend on the relevant needs, requirements and circumstances of the person and their household (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.4 and 17.9)
12. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it. This is important because there is a statutory right to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. This then carries a right of appeal to county court on a point of law.
13. Homeless applicants must request a review within 21 days of the decision. However, applicants can ask a council to reconsider its decision about the suitability of temporary accommodation at any time. This might be necessary, for example, if there is a change in the applicant’s circumstances. This new decision is open to review under s202, with a new 21 day timescale. R(B) v Redbridge LBC [2019] EWHC 250 (Admin)

What happened

14. In August 2021, Mr X and his family moved into temporary accommodation provided by the Council, Property 1.
15. Mr X contacted the Council on 15 October 2021 to advise Property 1 was not suitable for his family. Mr X said his mother was blind and disabled and could not manage the internal stairs to the bathroom in Property 1.
16. The Council referred this issue with Property 1 to its Adult Social Care team in November 2021. The Council took no further action to address this matter.
17. In October 2022, Mr X contacted the Council to advise Property 1 had mould and damp problems. Mr X followed this up with a suitability review request on 21 October 2022.
18. The Council reported the damp and mould problems to the Housing Provider on 17 November 2022. The Housing Provider promised to look into the matter but made no further contact with the Council.
19. The Council completed its suitability review request on 15 December 2022 and decided Property 1 was unsuitable for Mr X’s family. The Council made this decision because of Mr X’s mother’s issues with accessing the bathroom.
20. Mr X reported the damp and mould issues to the Council again in January 2023. The Council contacted the Housing Provider on 3 January 2023 and 10 January 2023 but the Housing Provider took no further action.
21. On 20 January 2023, Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council. Mr X complained Property 1 was unsuitable for his family because of the internal stairs and damp and mould problems.
22. The Council chased the Housing Provider for a response on 31 January 2023.
23. On 16 February 2023, the Housing Provider asked the Council to move Mr X’s family. The Council moved Mr X’s family into a Bed and Breakfast on 18 February 2023.
24. The Council provided its Stage 1 complaint response on 24 February 2023. The Council accepted Property 1 was unsuitable accommodation for Mr X and his family. The Council said it was now taking suitable steps to address this.
25. On 3 March 2023, the Council moved Mr X and his family into Property 2.
26. Mr X made a suitability review request of Property 2 on 25 April 2023. Mr X said this property also had internal stairs to the bathroom so was unsuitable for his mother.
27. The Council completed the suitability review request on 22 May 2023 and decided Property 2 was unsuitable for Mr X and his family. The Council made this decision because of Mr X’s mother’s issues with accessing the bathroom.
28. As a result of the suitability review, the Council decided it would arrange to install a stairlift in the property to try to resolve the suitability issues.
29. On 13 June 2023, Mr X sought a response to his complaint at Stage 2 of the Council’s complaint process. Mr X said the Council placed he and his family in Property 2 despite this being unsuitable for his family’s needs.
30. The Council issued its Stage 2 complaint response on 4 August 2023. The Council said:
• It acknowledged Property 2 was unsuitable following its completion of Mr X’s review request.
• It has not been able to find a property of a suitable size for Mr X’s family as temporary accommodation.
• It would install a stairlift in the property to enable Mr X’s mother to access the bathroom while it continued to search for suitable temporary or permanent accommodation for Mr X and his family.
• It would pay Mr X £500 for the inconvenience this matter has caused.
31. The Council installed the stairlift into Property 2 on 8 August 2023 and paid Mr X £500 on 11 September 2023.

Analysis

Property 1

32. Mr X had an appeal right about the suitability of his temporary accommodation available to him at Property 1. However, since Mr X has now moved away from this property, this appeal right no longer exists. As such, the Ombudsman can consider the actions of the Council.
33. The Council has already accepted fault for Property 1 being unsuitable for Mr X and his family in its suitability review and complaint responses.
34. Since Mr X and his family have moved out of the property, there is nothing further the Council can do to address the unsuitability of this property for Mr X and his family.
35. The Council has acknowledged it failed to resolve the issues with the property from October 2021, when Mr X first raised his concerns, until it moved the family in February 2023. The Council has explained it failed to follow through on promised actions and contacts with the Housing Provider because it did not have a Team Leader in post. The Council has now hired a Team Leader to improve its service moving forwards. I consider this addresses the underlying fault by the Council in Mr X’s complaint about Property 1 to help prevent a recurrence of this fault by the Council of such a situation again.
36. I have addressed the direct injustice to Mr X and his family under the section titled “Injustice to Mr X and his family” in paragraphs 44 to 53.

Property 2

37. Mr X and his family are still living in Property 2. As such, Mr X has a statutory right to review the suitability of Property 2. Mr X exercised this right in April 2023. In response to this, the Council deemed the property unsuitable and committed to installing a stairlift in the property.
38. Where a council decides that temporary accommodation is unsuitable, at first instance or following a suitability review, we do not expect complainants to use their appeal rights to court. In these circumstances we can consider the actions of the Council.
39. The Council has, like Property 1, already accepted fault for Property 2 being unsuitable for Mr X and his family in its suitability review and Stage 2 complaint response.
40. To address the unsuitability of Property 2 the Council installed a stairlift into the property on 8 August 2023. This action directly addressed the suitability issues with Property 2 identified in the Council’s suitability review related to the access issues to the bathroom. I consider the Council has taken appropriate steps to address the unsuitability of Property 2 in this respect and do not consider the Council need take any more action to address this.
41. The Council has told Mr X it does not have available any suitability sized temporary properties available to meet his family’s needs. The Council could not address this suitability issue based on the stock it had available. The Council committed to looking for a more suitable property for Mr X to resolve this aspect.
42. Should Mr X still have concerns over the suitability of Property 2, he could request a further suitability review from the Council and engage his appeal rights to the county court if necessary.
43. I have again addressed the direct injustice to Mr X and his family under the section titled “Injustice to Mr X and his family” in paragraphs 42 to 51.

Injustice to Mr X and his family

44. Mr X and his family lived in Property 1 for 18 months. Property 1 was not suitable for Mr X’s family’s needs throughout their entire time living in the property. The Council was at fault for failing to correct this unsuitability from October 2021. This meant the Council was at fault for Mr X and his family living in an unsuitable property for 16 months.
45. When the Council placed Mr X in Property 2, it was aware that Mr X’s mother could not access a bathroom if it was upstairs after it completed the suitability review of Property 1. This meant the Council placed Mr X and his family in Property 2 knowing this property would not be suitable for Mr X and his family’s needs. While the Council may have had no other properties available for Mr X and his family, it should have been proactive about the known needs of Mr X and his family. Failing to consider the suitability of the property before placing Mr X and his family in Property 2 was fault.
46. Instead of the Council considering Mr X and his family’s needs, Mr X needed to raise a suitability review of Property 2. This caused a delay in the Council installing a stairlift in Property 2 until 8 August 2023 resulting in Mr X and his family living an unsuitable property for a further 5 months.
47. In total, Mr X and his family have lived in unsuitable properties for 21 months up to 8 August 2023 as a direct result of the Council’s fault.
48. Where a person has been deprived of suitable accommodation the Ombudsman’s recommendation for financial redress is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month.
49. When considering an exact figure between £150 to £350, we consider the impact the fault had on the complainant and other members of their household.
50. In this instance, because of Mr X’s mother’s age and vulnerability she could not take herself to the bathroom while living in the unsuitable properties and relied on help from other members of the household. This not only impacted on Mr X’s mother but also the other members of the household as well. We consider this would justify a payment of £225 per month.
51. The unsuitability of the property increased from October 2022 until February 2023 when Mr X reported damp and mould problems at the property. For this time period, we consider an award of £275 is more suitable to reflect the increased impact on the family.
52. In total, Mr X and his family lived in unsuitable accommodation for 17 months solely related to the lack of an accessible bathroom for Mr X’s mother. With an extra 4 months for both inaccessibility issues and damp and mould issues. We consider a suitable award to is £4,925 to reflect the injustice the Council’s fault put Mr X and his family to.
53. Since the Council has already paid Mr X £500, it should pay Mr X a further £4,425 and provide him with an apology.

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Agreed action

54. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision the Council should:
• Provide Mr X with an apology and payment of a further £4,425 because of the Council’s fault in leaving he and his family in unsuitable accommodation for 21 months.
55. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

56. There was fault by the Council as the Council has agreed to my recommendations, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman