Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to correct an issue with her ‘My Waltham Forest’ account. We found there was a failure to address the issue for a prolonged period. This meant she was not able to place bids for housing and her account was closed inappropriately because she was unable to re-register as required. We found Ms X did not miss out on housing as a result of the issue, but we recommended a payment to recognise the distress caused. We also found the Council placed Ms X in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for too long and we recommended a payment to recognise this.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council failed to correct an issue with her ‘My Waltham Forest’ account that she raised repeatedly. She complained this prevented her from updating her details on the account and meant she was unable to place bids for properties. It also caused upset and distress.

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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. 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)
4. 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)

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What I have and have not considered

5. Elements of Ms X’s complaint to the Council referred to events as far back as 2012. We generally expect complaints to be brought to us within 12 months of someone becoming aware of them. We have not investigated the earlier events Ms X’s complaint refers to when investigating the complaint. This is because we consider it would be reasonable to expect a complaint about these events to have been brought to us sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms 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

Suitability of Interim and Temporary Accommodation

8. 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 both interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2).
9. Bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation can only be used to accommodate households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks. B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned by the council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.35)

What Happened

10. Ms X has been on the Council’s housing register for some years. She has two children. When someone is on the council’s housing register they have a ‘My Waltham Forest’ account. They use this account to place bids for housing.
11. In November 2023 Ms X presented to the Council as homeless. The Council provided interim accommodation for her and her children with shared facilities between 30 November 2023 and 27 February 2024, a period of just over 12 weeks. After this, the Council provided other temporary accommodation.
12. In early 2024 Ms X made a complaint, via Shelter, about her ‘My Waltham Forest’ account. She stated she had suffered persistent issues with accessing the account and updating her details. Her complaint referenced events back to 2012. It stated between 2020 and 2021 she had contacted the Council many times trying to resolve the access issue. Shelter and other professionals had also contacted the Council to raise it. Because of the error she could not log onto her account and update her details or re-register and she was unable to place bids for housing.
13. Shelter stated that in 2021 the Council accepted the issues with the access were caused by the Council incorrectly recording her date of birth. This was a clerical error by the Council. However, the issue was not resolved and rather than resolve the issue, the Council repeatedly told Ms X to reset her password. This was not possible given the error on the Council’s records.
14. The Council’s initial complaint response did not identify there had been an issue. When the Council responded further, it established the error with the Council’s records and its failure to update this. The Council recognised that the problem with its records had prevented Ms X logging on to bid for properties and the ‘My Waltham Forest’ account had been closed in error because Ms X was prevented from re-registering, which all users were required to.
15. The Council acknowledged that, but for the problem, Ms X’s account would have been live, with Band 3 priority and a priority date of 20 July 2020. The Council corrected its records on 28 March 2024. The Council offered Ms X £750 to compensate her. This was based on £25 per month from March 2022 to March 2024 when the issue was present and £100 for distress and time and trouble brining the complaint.
16. We asked the Council to assess whether Ms X would have been successful in placing bids for accommodation in the period between 1 March 2022 and 28 March 2024, if she had the opportunity to do so and she had the priority date of 20 July 2020. The Council evidenced the levels of priority required to successfully obtain properties over this period. This showed that Ms X did not lose out on housing.
17. In the Council’s response to her complaint, it responded to a request from Ms X for her priority date to be backdated further to 2015. It explained its decision not to do so based on events between 2015 and 2020 and a decision it made in 2021. These events are too old for us to consider or comment on.

Was there fault by the council

18. The Council accepts it failed to properly establish and address the issues with Ms X’s ‘My Waltham Forest’ account despite multiple contacts from Ms X and others. This this meant she was unable to re-register as required. This led to her account being closed in error. It also accepts that for a prolonged period Ms X was unable to place bids for housing. This was fault.
19. When we identify fault, we aim, as far as possible, to place someone back in the position they should have been in if the fault had not occurred. As Ms X was not able to place bids, we established if this caused her to lose out on a successful bid for housing. We found that this was not the case. However, the situation was clearly frustrating and stressful for Ms X. This was avoidable and a payment is warranted to recognise this. Our guidance on remedying complaints recommends a payment of up to £500 to remedy distress.
20. In addition to the issues Ms X raised about her account. It is apparent that the Council accommodated her and her children in interim accommodation with shared facilities for 12 weeks. This meets the definition of Bed and Breakfast accommodation for the purposes of Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003. Councils should not use Bed and Breakfast accommodation for families. If they have to, this should be for no longer than six weeks. Where a family is placed in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation for over six weeks, this is fault. In these circumstances we recommend a payment is made to recognise the injustice caused. I have recommended Ms X should receive £100 per week for the additional six and a half weeks that she was in unsuitable accommodation. This is £650.
21. I note the Council has apologised to Ms X for the issues with her bidding account. It also proposed a payment of £750. For the reasons set out above we recommend that to remedy the complaint the Council should make a total payment to Ms X of £1150. If the Council has already made the payment of £750 that it previously offered, it should pay the remaining £400 to remedy the complaint.

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Action

22. Within four weeks of our final decision:
23. The Council should make a payment to Ms X of £500 to recognise the distress caused by the failure to resolve the problems with her ‘My Waltham Forest’ account and £650 to recognise the additional period of six and half weeks that she spent in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation. This is a total of £1150. If the Council has already made a payment to Ms X this should be deducted from the total amount we recommend.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

25. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman