Summary: Miss B complained that the Council failed to properly backdate her housing priority award. We find that the Council failed to properly deal with Miss B’s homelessness application and delayed awarding Miss B additional priority on the Council’s housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise, backdate Miss B’s housing priority and makes a payment to Miss B. We have also recommended service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council has not backdated her housing priority to 2021, when she moved into temporary accommodation because she was homeless.
2. Miss B says that as a result of this, she remains living in unsuitable and overcrowded accommodation with her son.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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)
5. 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

6. As explained in paragraph four, we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons why the complaint was not made to us sooner. I have not investigated the way the Council dealt with the homelessness application which Miss B made in 2021 because I consider it would have been reasonable for Miss B to complain to us sooner. I have exercised some discretion to investigate events since May 2023, when Miss B’s solicitors made a homelessness application on her behalf.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Miss B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft decision. I considered any comments before making this final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law, policy and guidance

Homelessness

9. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (the Code) set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
10. Councils must give proper consideration to all applications for housing assistance, and if they have reason to believe that an applicant may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, they must make inquiries to see whether they owe them any duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. The council will need to first decide whether the applicant is eligible for assistance and threatened with or actually homeless. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 10)
11. The Code says applications can be made to any department of the council and do not need to be in any particular form. The duty is triggered by any communication in which the person is seeking accommodation or help to get accommodation which also gives reason to believe they might be homeless or threatened with homelessness. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 18.5)
12. Councils must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if they have reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 15.4)
13. If the duty to make inquiries is triggered, the council must issue a decision about what duty it owes the person. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 18.34)
14. The prevention duty applies when the council is satisfied that an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance. The council has a duty to help prevent them from becoming homeless. (Housing Act 1996, section 195 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 12.1 and 12.3)
15. The relief duty applies when the council is satisfied that an applicant is homeless (rather than just threatened with homelessness) and eligible for assistance. The council has a duty to take reasonable steps to help the applicant secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 13.2)
16. The relief duty usually lasts for 56 days. Councils should be able to decide whether they owe the main housing duty on day 57 after accepting the relief duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 14.17)
17. Under the main housing duty, councils must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for the applicant and their household until the duty is brought to an end, usually through the offer of a settled home. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17)
18. A person should be treated as homeless if it is not reasonable for them to continue to occupy their accommodation and no other accommodation is available to them. (Housing Act 1996, section 175 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 6.4)

Housing allocations

19. The Council’s housing allocation scheme, which was introduced in January 2023, places applicants in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band D (lowest priority). It says Band A will be awarded where the applicant is owed the relief duty (section 189B of the Housing Act) and the interim duty to accommodate (section 188 of the Housing Act), or where the applicant is owed the main housing duty (section 193 of the Housing Act).
20. The previous scheme awarded Band 2 in the same circumstances. It placed applicants in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority).

Background and key events

21. In 2021, Miss B was living in a three-bedroom housing association property with her 8-year-old son. She applied to join the housing register because she was experiencing harassment and abuse from her neighbours.
22. In May 2021, Miss B was accepted onto the housing register and awarded Band 1 because she was under-occupying a three-bedroom house and Band 2 on medical grounds.
23. That month, Miss B decided it was not safe for her to remain in her home, and she gave up the tenancy, moving into a privately rented bedsit with her son.
24. In August 2022, Miss B completed a change of circumstances form. The Council re-assessed her situation and removed the medical and under-occupying awards because they applied to her previous address. However, the Council considered she needed an additional bedroom and so it awarded Band C for overcrowding.
25. Miss B submitted further medical evidence to the Council and in May 2023, it increased her housing priority to Band B on medical grounds.
26. Miss B’s solicitors also made a homelessness application on Miss B’s behalf in May 2023. They explained that it was not reasonable for Miss B and her son to continue to occupy their accommodation and so they were homeless under section 175 of the Housing Act 1996. They provided evidence from Miss B’s landlord to show that the accommodation was provided on a temporary basis and was not suitable for a child long term. The solicitors said that Miss B was in priority need and asked the Council to provide her with interim accommodation.
27. The Council accepted the prevention duty to Miss B in June 2023 and the relief duty in December 2023. Following a home visit in December 2023, the Council accepted that it was not reasonable for Miss B and her son to continue to occupy the accommodation. It accepted the main housing duty to Miss B in May 2024, and then increased her housing priority to Band A.
28. After accepting the main housing duty, the Council offered interim accommodation but Miss B declined the offer because she wanted to remain near her son’s school.

Analysis

29. Miss B’s Band A award should not be backdated to 2021. This is because the Council did not begin awarding Band A to homelessness applicants until January 2023, when it changed its housing allocation scheme.
30. I have considered whether the Council should have awarded Band A before May 2024.
31. When Miss B’s solicitors made a homelessness application in May 2023, the Council had a duty to make enquiries to decide whether it owed her any duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996. The Council wrongly decided it should not accept the application because it considered her circumstances had not changed since her previous homelessness case was closed. This was fault.
32. The Council accepted Miss B’s homelessness application at the end of June and decided it owed her the prevention duty. This duty is owed to applicants who are threatened with homelessness. The Council failed to send a decision letter to Miss B. This was fault. Although Miss B’s solicitors told the Council in May 2023 that it was not reasonable for her to continue to occupy her accommodation, the Council failed to make enquiries to establish if she was homeless until December 2023. This delay was fault.
33. The Council says it accepted the relief duty to Miss B in December 2023. This duty is owed to applicants who are homeless, rather than threatened with homelessness. However, it failed to send a decision letter to Miss B. This was fault. Since the Council had reason to believe Miss B had a priority need, it should have offered to provide her with interim accommodation and awarded Band A on the housing register at that time. It did not do so; this was fault.
34. Councils should be able to decide whether they owe the main housing duty within 56 days of accepting the relief duty. The Council accepted the relief duty on 12 December 2023 but did not decide that it owed Miss B the main housing duty until 4 May 2024, 144 days later. This delay was fault.
35. If there had been no fault in this case, I consider the Council would have accepted the homelessness application which Miss B’s solicitors made on her behalf in May 2023. The Council’s enquiries would likely have led to a decision that the relief duty was owed, along with an offer of interim accommodation and a Band A award. While I do not consider Miss B would have accepted interim accommodation, had the Council followed the correct process, she is more likely to have successfully bid on suitable accommodation by now because she would have been awarded Band A around ten months earlier.

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Action

36. The Council has agreed that within four weeks of this final decision, it will take the following actions:
• Apologise to Miss B and makes a payment of £200. This is a symbolic payment to recognise that the Council’s failings have caused her distress, uncertainty and inconvenience. The apology should be made in accordance with our guidance on remedies.
• Backdate Miss B’s Band A award date to 13 July 2023.
• Provide evidence to show whether any of Miss B’s bids would have been successful if she had been awarded Band A on 13 July 2023. If Miss B has missed out on any properties, the Council has agreed to make an additional payment of £150 for each month between the date she missed out on the property and the date of my final decision.
37. The Council will also take the following actions within eight weeks of this final decision:
• Provide training and/or guidance to its staff to ensure they are following the requirements of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance when dealing with homelessness applications. It should include the criteria for accepting subsequent homelessness applications, the requirement to issue decision letters, the timescales for the relief and prevention duties and the need to consider whether it is reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy their accommodation.
• Implement a monitoring system to ensure that cases are being handled within reasonable timeframes and that key deadlines (such as the decision on whether the relief duty applies) are met.
38. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

39. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take the actions I have recommended. This will be sufficient to remedy the injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman