Summary: Ms X complained about the way the Council handled her housing register and homelessness applications meaning she had to spend longer in unsafe accommodation. She also complained about its complaint handling. We have not found the Council at fault for the way it handled Ms X’s housing register application but we have found the Council at fault for not considering whether Ms X was homeless on the basis her property was not reasonable to occupy. We have also found the Council at fault for its complaint handling. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and make a payment for the distress caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the way the Council handled her housing register and homelessness applications. She says the Council should have done more to move her family from accommodation which was unsafe for her child. Ms X also complains about the Council’s complaint handling.

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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 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)
3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness

7. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them[and anyone who lives with them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
8. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:

• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• they have been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5)

9. If a council is satisfied an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, it must take steps to help the applicant keep their home or find somewhere new to live. This is called the Prevention Duty. In deciding what steps to take, a council must have regard to its assessment of the applicant’s case. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
10. Where a council decides someone is homeless, it must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is called the Relief Duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
11. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance has a priority need and is not homeless intentionally, the council has a duty to make accommodation available. This is called the Main Housing Duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Housing allocations

12. 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))
13. 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))
14. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which it’s partner landlords advertise. The Council places applicants into Bands depending on their level of priority. Band 1 is the highest and Band 4 the lowest.
15. Applicants are placed into Band 2 where someone in the household has a significant physical or mental health condition which is directly affected by the accommodation.
16. Applicants who have been owed the main housing duty following a homelessness application are placed into Band 1.

What happened

17. Ms X lived with her two children. One of Ms X children is non-verbal, has Autistic Spectrum Disorder along with other learning disabilities. Ms X lived in a property where the staircase was open and could not have a saftey gate fitted. As a result, she said her child kept jumping from the stairs and injured themselves several times.
18. In August 2022, Ms X contacted the Council for help. In September 2022, the Council placed Ms X into Band 2 on its housing register after receiving advice from an Occupational Therapist (OT). The Council also changed her bedroom need from two bedrooms to three as her children needed their own rooms.
19. In July 2023, the Council offered Ms X a property. Ms X refused this offer as she beloved the property was not suitable for her child.
20. In August 2023, Ms X received a section 21 notice to leave her current accommodation and approached the Council for help. The Council contacted Ms X’s landlord and found that they wanted to increase the rent but support Ms X to find new accommodation as they believed it was not suitable for her anymore.
21. In September 2023, Ms X made a formal complaint to the Council. Ms X complained the Council had not provided help to move her family into safe accommodation. Ms X explained the stairs in her property were a danger to her child’s saftey.
22. On 19 September 2023, the Council carried out a homelessness assessment of Ms X’s needs and decided to owe her the Prevention Duty.
23. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in early October 2023. The Council said:
• It awarded Ms X Band 2 on its housing register as the OT raised concerns about the saftey of the home and the landlord was unwilling to carry out any adaptations.
• Ms X was currently in the correct Band on its housing register and it had offered her a property which she considered unsuitable.
• After it received Ms X’s section 21 notice it carried out a homelessness assessment. The Council said it would progress her homeless case once it established if the section 21 notice was valid.
24. In October 2023, the Council received confirmation the section 21 notice Ms X received was valid. The Council decided to increase Ms X’s Banding on the housing register to Band 1 high needs priority for two months as it considered her child with learning disabilities would struggle to cope with temporary accommodation.
25. Ms X made a further complaint to the Council in early January 2024. Ms X said she had not been moved into a new property. The Council responded to Ms X shortly after and told her this complaint was the same as her previous complaint. As a result, the Council said it would deal with the complaint at stage two of its process.
26. In February 2024, email communication between Ms X and the Council showed Ms X contacted the Council about her case and told the Council her property was dangerous for her child. The Council responded and told Ms X it accepted her case was urgent but priority on the housing register was organised by the date an applicant joined, so there were still others who were ahead of Ms X. The Council told Ms X it would pay a deposit and first month’s rent if she wanted to find accommodation in the private sector.
27. In late February 2024, Ms X received an offer of social housing. Ms X refused this property as it was not suitable for her child’s needs. Ms X visited the property with an OT who agreed the property was not suitable.
28. In mid-April 2024, the Council ended its Prevention Duty towards Ms X and closed her case. The notes showed the Council received confirmation the section 21 notice expired and Ms X’s landlord was not taking steps to recover possession of the property.
29. In July 2024, Ms X received offers for two properties on the Council’s housing register. Ms X refused these offers after viewing them with an OT as they were not suitable for her child.
30. Ms X received a further offer of accommodation on the Council’s housing register in August 2024. Ms X initially accepted this offer but then decided to refuse it after the OT visited it and told her they did not consider it suitable.
31. In late September 2024, Ms X received an offer of accommodation on the Council’s housing register. Ms X accepted this offer and signed her tenancy agreement in early October 2024.

Ms X’s complaint to the Ombudsman

32. Ms X first contacted the Ombudsman in February 2024. At this stage she was still in the process of going through the Council’s complaints procedure. Ms X contacted the Ombudsman again in September 2024. At this stage we made enquiries with the Council about whether Ms X had completed its complaints procedure. The Council told us it would send Ms X a final complaint response by the end of September 2024.
33. Following contact from Ms X, in October 2024, that the Council had not provided her with a final response we followed this up with the Council but received no response over several months. When the Council did respond to our enquiries in June 2025, it did not send us a copy of a final complaint response. In response to the draft of this decision the Council did send us a copy of its final response. The Council sent this to Ms X in late December 2024 and offered her £500 for the time and trouble she experienced complaining.

Analysis

Housing register application

34. After Ms X contacted the Council in August 2022, it placed her into Band 2 on its housing register. I am satisfied it considered Ms X’s circumstances and made this decision in line with its allocations policy.
35. Ms X remained in Band 2 on the Council’s housing register except for a few months in late 2023 when the Council moved her into Band 1. The Council explained this was due to the fact it did not believe her child could cope with being moved to temporary accommodation following her homelessness application. On balance I am satisfied the Council placed Ms X in the correct Band on its housing register.
36. Ms X continued to receive offers of properties on the Council’s housing register until she accepted a property in September 2024. I do not find the Council at fault with how it dealt with Ms X’s housing register application.

Homelessness application

37. Initially the Council decided it owed Ms X the Prevention Duty after Ms X received a section 21 notice from her landlord. I am satisfied with how the Council decided this.
38. The Council then closed her homelessness application in April 2024 as it said there was no longer a threat of homelessness. This was on the basis the section 21 notice expired and the Council did not believe that landlord was taking further steps for possession. However there is no evidence the Council considered at any time whether Ms X was homeless based on her property not being reasonable for her family to live in. Throughout her homelessness application Ms X was on the housing register due to the fact the Council considered her property was not suitable for her family. Failure to consider whether Ms X was homeless based on her property being unreasonable to occupy was fault.
39. If the Council had considered this and decided Ms X was homeless on this basis it would have owed her the Relief Duty and potentially the main housing duty. There is a possibility that Ms X could have moved into suitable accommodation faster had the Council not closed her homelessness application. This will cause uncertainty to Ms X.

Complaint handling

40. The Council operates a two stage complaints procedure. At stage two the Council should provide its response within 20 working days of receiving a request to escalate a complaint to stage 2.
41. Ms X contacted the Council in January 2024 and the Council agreed to treat this as a stage 2 complaint. The Council should have provided Ms X with a stage two complaint response by Mid-February 2024. Failure to do so was fault.
42. The Council later told the Ombudsman it would provide Ms X with a stage two complaint response by 30 September 2024. It failed to do so.
43. Ms X had to contact the Ombudsman several times to try to progress her complaint through the Council’s complaints process. This is an injustice to Ms X. She also had to wait significantly longer than she should have to bring her complaint to the Ombudsman.
44. In response to my enquiries on this complaint the Council did not provide a copy of a stage two complaint response as part of the complaint correspondence it sent. Following the draft decision, the Council sent the Ombudsman a copy of its stage two complaint response, dated December 2024. The Council offered to pay Ms X £500 for the time and trouble she experienced progressing her complaint with the Council. I am satisfied this remedies the injustice caused to Ms X.

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Agreed Action

45. Within one month of my final decision the Council should agreed to out the following:
• Provide Ms X with a written apology for not considering whether she was homeless on the basis her property was unreasonable to occupy and for the way it handled her complaint. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• If it has not done so already, pay Ms X the £500 it offered her in its stage two complaint response to recognise the time and trouble she experienced pursuing her complaint with the Council.
• Pay Ms X £100 to recognise the uncertainty caused by not considering whether she was homeless based on her property being unreasonable for her family to occupy.
46. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

47. I find fault causing injustice. The Council agreed to the above actions to remedy injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman