Summary: Ms X complained about how the Council handled her housing situation when she applied to be her nephew’s special guardian. There were some faults by the Council in how it dealt with parts of Ms X’s homeless application and her housing register application. This caused Ms X distress and uncertainty and left her without interim accommodation for two months. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused to Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s lack of support with her housing situation from December 2022 and when she became special guardian for a child, I will call Y.
2. Ms X also complained the Council did not re-assess her housing register priority band when she and Y moved to her mother’s property in July 2023. And as a result, Ms X said she remained under the wrong priority band (Band C) for about six months until her priority band was changed to Band B.
3. Ms X said the matter caused her significant distress, confusion, inconvenience and the time and trouble chasing the Council for resolution and making complaints. Ms X also said her and Y continue to live in an overcrowded accommodation.

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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. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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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What I have and have not investigated

7. The law says 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)
8. Ms X made a complaint to the Ombudsman in January 2024 which means my investigation should start from January 2023. However, to make a meaningful investigation, I have exercised discretion to investigate matters from December 2022 to January 2024. This covers the period from when the Council accepted the homelessness relief duty to when Ms X made a complaint to the Ombudsman.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered the information Ms X and the Council provided about this complaint.
10. I sent Ms X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and I will consider all comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness

11. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
12. Interim accommodation - A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
13. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
14. The Relief Duty - If councils are satisfied applicants are homeless and eligible for assistance, they must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation. This is called the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. The relief duty usually lasts 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
15. The Main Housing Duty - if a council is satisfied an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need, the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). The accommodation a council provides until it can end the main housing duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193). But councils will not owe this duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer.
16. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This duty applies to interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
17. Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability (Housing Act 1996, section 202). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.
18. If the Council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the Council must provide suitable accommodation. If the review decides the accommodation is suitable, the applicant has the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)
19. Priority need - examples of applicants in priority need are:

• people with dependent children;
• pregnant women;
• people who are vulnerable due to serious health problems, disability or old age;
• care leavers; and
• victims of domestic abuse.

20. Councils must put all its key decisions in writing. If it is an adverse decision, the letter must fully explain the reasons. All letters must include information about the right to ask for a review and the timescale for doing so. (Housing Act 1996, section 184, Homelessness Code of Guidance 18.30)

Housing Allocations

21. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
22. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:

• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others.

(Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))

The Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme

23. The Housing register priority bands include, Band A (emergencies and strategic priorities), Band B (high priority), Band C (medium priority) and Band D (low priority).
24. Applicants must notify the Council if there is a relevant change of circumstances affecting their application, including changes that may affect their priority, eligibility or size of property they can be offered. An applicant’s priority band or level may increase or decrease following a change of circumstances.
25. Homeless persons owed a full housing duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 will be placed in Band B, unless there are special circumstances which give them a Band A priority.
26. Special Guardianship Order (SGO) – is an order made by the family court. The person(s) named on the SGO will become the child’s special guardian and will be responsible for looking after the child until they turn 18 years old.

Background

27. Ms X had been living at her severely disabled sister’s property for several years. This was because Ms X was her sister’s carer.
28. Ms X’s sister gave birth to a child (Y) and Y was placed in foster care from birth. Ms X subsequently applied to be a special guardian for Y.
29. In 2022, Ms X submitted a housing register application, and the Council awarded her priority Band C.
30. The Council agreed to provide Ms X’s sister with 24-hour care. This meant Ms X was no longer required to be her sister’s carer and could no longer live at her sister’s property. It was also not suitable for Ms X’s sister and Y to live in the same property.
31. Due to the pending special guardianship application, Ms X said the Council advised her to make a homeless application. This was so Ms X could secure accommodation quicker which would then put her in a better position to obtain the special guardianship order (SGO).
32. In November 2022, Ms X submitted a homeless application. The Council completed the homeless assessment the same month and confirmed it needed to prioritise and provide Ms X with interim accommodation urgently. This was because Y would continue to be a looked after child until the SGO was granted.

Key events

Homeless application

33. In December 2022, the Council found Ms X was eligible for help and it was satisfied she was homeless, so it accepted the relief duty.
34. The Council said the two properties it offered Ms X as interim accommodation in December 2022 were unsuitable for her. For this reason, the Council did not discharge interim accommodation duty. It told Ms X it would continue to look for accommodation for her, but the Council was unable to say when a suitable property would be available.
35. In February 2023, the Council sent Ms X a property licence agreement for self-contained temporary hostel accommodation. Ms X refused the offer because she felt the homeless application route was not the best option for her. Ms X told the Council her details had been removed from its housing register, and she asked it how she could start bidding for properties again.
36. The Council said Ms X did not move into the hostel. Ms X said despite her refusal of the hostel unit, the Council changed her residential address on its records to the hostel’s address, and it asked her to start paying for the rent.
37. In late February, the Council completed a main housing duty assessment for Ms X.
38. In March, the Council called Ms X to find out about her housing situation. Ms X said she refused the hostel offer although the property was deemed to be suitable. Ms X told the Council Y was still in foster care but said she had moved to her mother’s three-bedroom property while she tried to look for alternative accommodation. The Council asked Ms X to provide it with her mother’s address and said it would update its record to show Ms X was not residing at the hostel. The Council said once it cancelled the placement, Ms X would be able to bid for properties again.
39. On 14 April, the Council accepted the main housing duty to Ms X.
40. On 19 April, the Council sent Ms X a letter informing her it had discharged its interim accommodation duty after she refused the hostel accommodation in February. The Council then sent Ms X a follow-on email asking her to disregard the discharge letter because it had accepted it owed her the main housing duty. The Council said it would offer the same temporary accommodation (TA) to Ms X but under its main housing duty.
41. The same day, the Council re-offered Ms X the same self-contained temporary hostel accommodation. The Council’s offer letter stated the TA was suitable and reasonable for Ms X and her household. The letter also set out the consequences if Ms X refused the TA and her right to request a suitability review of the TA.
42. Ms X refused the TA offer. Ms X said she was not homeless but was advised by the Council to make a homeless application. She said the space she occupied at her mother’s property was like the hostel accommodation and that the accommodation would only be given to her on a short-term basis. Ms X said she would therefore continue to reside at her mother’s property until she secured a permanent two-bedroom property.
43. In May, the Council sent a letter to Ms X informing her it had ended its main housing duty because she refused the offer of TA. The Council maintained the TA remained suitable for Ms X and it advised her of her review right about its decision. Ms X did not request a review of the Council’s discharge duty decision.

Housing allocation register

44. In February and March 2023, Ms X told the Council her details had been removed from its housing register, and she was unable to bid for properties.
45. In March, Ms X told the Council she had moved to her mother’s property.
46. In July, Y left foster care and moved in with Ms X at her mother’s property. Ms X said the property was overcrowded because three adults and Y lived there. Ms X said the Council promised to re-assess her housing register priority band, but did not do so.
47. Between August and November, Ms X contacted the Council about her inability to bid for properties for several months and questioned why she had not been awarded with a higher priority since she became Y’s special guardian. Or when she and Y moved to her mother’s home in July.
48. In November, the Council told Ms X she had been unable to bid for properties when it discharged its main housing duty in May 2023. It advised Ms X to complete an online change of circumstances (CoC) application which she did. Ms X said she did not have sole access to a living room.
49. The Council changed Ms X’s priority band from Band C to Band B for severe overcrowding. Ms X was eligible to bid for two-bedroom properties under priority Band B from 9 November 2023.
50. Ms X and Y still live at her mother's property while she continues to bid for two-bedroom properties.

Analysis

Homeless application

51. Councils are under immediate duty to secure interim accommodation for an applicant if there is ‘reason to believe’ they may be eligible, homeless and in priority need.
52. In this case, I find fault by the Council for failing to provide Ms X with interim accommodation between December 2022 and February 2023. This meant Ms X was left without interim accommodation for approximately three months. It also caused Ms X distress, uncertainty and worry.
53. The Council was at fault when it incorrectly recorded on its system that Ms X resided at the hostel after the February 2023 offer. This caused her confusion and the uncertainty as to whether the Council dealt with her housing case correctly.
54. The Council should have accepted the main housing duty in February 2023, 56 days after it accepted the relief duty. It did not do so until April. This delay of two months was fault. Had the Council accepted the main housing duty when it should have, Ms X would have had a right to review the suitability of the accommodation offered in February. But I find this did not cause Ms X any injustice, because when she did have review rights in April, she did not use them.
55. With regards the Council’s TA offer in April 2023, Ms X said it offered her the same hostel accommodation which she had previously refused. I find the Council was not at fault when it offered Ms X with the same TA under its main housing duty. This is because interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. The difference is that the Council’s legal duty changes under both stages and there is a statutory right of review of TA which then carries an appeal right to the county court on a point of law.
56. The Council considered and found the TA was suitable for Ms X and her household. This was not fault. If Ms X disputed the TA suitability, she could have exercised her review right at the time as advised in the Council’s TA offer letter.
57. Similarly, there was no fault by the Council when it discharged its main housing duty in May 2023 after Ms X refused the TA offer. The TA offer letter had clearly set out the consequences if Ms X refused the TA and again, Ms X had the statutory right to a review of the Council’s decision if she remained dissatisfied.

Housing allocation register

58. The Council should have placed Ms X in Band B on 14 April 2023 when it accepted the main housing duty in line with its allocation scheme. However, this priority would have ended when the Council ended its main housing duty. There is, therefore, no significant injustice to Ms X from this fault as its unlikely she would have bid successfully for a property in this short time.
59. The Council did not award Band B until November 2023.
60. Ms X said the Council did not re-assess her priority band in July 2023 when Y moved in with her at her mother’s property. Applicants are responsible for notifying the Council if there is any relevant CoC affecting their housing register application. I find no evidence Ms X notified the Council when Y moved in with her in July. Therefore, I find there was no way the Council could have known of the CoC to be able to re-assess her priority band at the time. This was not fault.

Conclusion

61. We have recently made service improvement recommendations in other decisions that the Council should properly communicate with applicants about their homeless/housing register applications. The Council also has a Housing Needs Service Improvement Plan to provide its services to applicants. We are continuing to monitor the actions the Council takes to ensure compliance with those and similar recommendations. For this reason, I have not made any service improvement recommendation about homelessness in this case. This identified issue is already being addressed through other cases we have investigated.

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Action

62. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following within one month of the final decision:

• apologise in writing to Ms X to acknowledge the injustice caused to her by the Council’s faults as identified above. The apology should be in accordance with our guidance, Making an effective apology
• make Ms X a symbolic payment of £250 to acknowledge the injustice caused to her for the Council’s failure to provide her with interim accommodation between December 2022 and February 2023.

63. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

64. I find some faults by the Council causing injustice to Ms X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman