Summary: Mr B complained that the Council failed to take appropriate action when he was homeless and seeking housing assistance. We find that on several occasions, the Council failed to carry out a housing needs assessment and decide what duty it owed him. This prevented Mr B from joining the housing register. The Council also failed to provide clear information about the documents it needed to support his housing application. These failings caused Mr B significant distress and left him homeless for longer than necessary. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mr B. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains that the Council failed to take action to prevent him from becoming homeless when he sought housing assistance in early 2024. He says the Council has failed to take appropriate action since he became homeless, particularly by failing to offer him suitable temporary accommodation.
2. Mr B also complains that the Council closed several of his housing applications, forcing him to repeatedly reapply, which has delayed his ability to bid for housing.
3. Mr B says that because of the Council’s failings, he remains homeless.

Back to top

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. 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(1), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr B, his advocate and the Council, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mr B and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Homelessness legislation and guidance

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.

The prevention duty

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. In deciding what steps to take, a council must have regard to its assessment of the applicant’s case. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

The relief duty

10. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

The main housing duty

11. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need, the council must secure suitable accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Interim accommodation duty

12. Where a council has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless, eligible, and in priority need, it must secure interim accommodation while it makes further enquiries. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)

Suitability of accommodation

13. All accommodation provided under homelessness duties must be suitable for the applicant and their household.  This duty applies to interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)

Priority need

14. 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.

Housing Allocation Scheme

15. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme. Applicants who qualify for the Housing Register are placed into priority bands from Band A (highest) to Band D (lowest). Band A includes applicants owed the main housing duty, and those owed both the relief duty and the duty to accommodate. Band B includes applicants owed the prevention duty and those owed the relief duty (without the duty to accommodate).
16. Applicants with significant housing-related debt do not normally qualify unless:
• they have a repayment plan and are making regular payments,
• the debt has been repaid or regular payments are continuing at point of offer, or
• they are owed a statutory homeless duty.

Homelessness complaint

Key events

17. Mr B first approached the Council for housing assistance in January 2024 because he was facing eviction. The Council contacted his landlord to explore potential support that might prevent the eviction and asked Mr B to provide documents including proof of identity, address and income. Mr B provided several documents.
18. Mr B contacted the Council again when he became homeless in February 2024. He was advised that shared accommodation could be arranged once a housing needs assessment was completed. Mr B said that he could not live in shared accommodation as it would affect his mental health. The Council suggested that he could instead apply to join the Council’s housing register or he could consider privately renting and it told him about the help he could get with a deposit.
19. In March 2024, the Council received a homelessness referral from the Jobcentre. It contacted Mr B and again advised that shared accommodation could be arranged following an assessment. Mr B explained again why he could not accept shared accommodation. He declined to provide further evidence of eligibility, stating he had already submitted the required documents.
20. Mr B reapproached the homelessness service in April 2024. The Council began a housing needs assessment, but it was not completed because Mr B again said that he would not accept shared accommodation. He was advised that, as a single applicant, only shared accommodation would be offered.
21. In November 2024, Mr B contacted the Council again. The Council said that it could arrange shared accommodation, which Mr B again declined on medical grounds. The Council asked him to provide supporting medical evidence, which he agreed to do.
22. In January 2025, a neighbouring authority referred Mr B to the Council. The Council took no action because the referral did not include Mr B’s contact details.
23. In July 2025, after we contacted the Council about Mr B’s complaint, it completed a housing needs assessment and decided that it owed him the relief duty.

Analysis

24. When a council has reason to believe that a person may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it must make enquiries to determine eligibility and what duty is owed.
25. The Council accepts that in January 2024, it failed to complete a housing needs assessment, issue a personalised housing plan, or make a formal decision on duty. This was fault.
26. Had the Council acted correctly, it is likely it would have accepted the prevention duty to Mr B. However, based on the Council’s record of its discussion with Mr B’s landlord, it is unlikely that homelessness could have been prevented.
27. Mr B became homeless in February 2024. At that stage, the Council had reason to believe he was homeless and that he may have a priority need. This triggered a duty to provide suitable interim accommodation while it made further enquiries. The Council offered shared accommodation, but when Mr B said this would be unsuitable for health reasons, the Council did not make enquiries to assess whether that type of accommodation would be suitable for him. This was fault.
28. The Council again failed to complete a housing needs assessment or decide what duty it owed Mr B when he approached the Council again in March, April or November 2024. The Council accepts this was fault. It had a duty to carry out a formal assessment and decide what duty it owed, regardless of whether Mr B had supplied all requested documents and regardless of whether he was willing to accept shared accommodation.
29. The Council did not act on the January 2025 referral from a neighbouring authority because it lacked contact details. It should have requested these from the authority or used the information it already held. This was a further missed opportunity to assist Mr B and was fault.
30. Mr B provided medical evidence in January 2025 which supported his view that shared accommodation would affect his mental health. This evidence was not considered until the Council carried out a housing needs assessment in July 2025. This was fault.
31. Had the Council acted without fault, it is likely it would have accepted the prevention duty to Mr B in January 2024, the relief duty in February 2024 and reached a decision about the main housing duty in April 2024. As a result of its failings, the Council did not accept any duty to Mr B until July 2025.

Housing register complaint

Key events

32. Mr B applied to join the Council’s housing register in February, March and April 2024. Each application failed the pre-qualification stage because he declared rent arrears from a previous tenancy and did not have a payment plan in place.
33. Mr B reapplied in May 2024 after beginning to repay the arrears. In August 2024, the Council closed his application as incomplete, stating he had not provided all the required documents. It did not specify which documents were missing.
34. Mr B applied again in October 2024, submitting additional documents. Following the Council’s request, he also provided evidence of his medical need for housing. Mr B was accepted onto the housing register in February 2025 and placed in Band B on medical grounds.

Analysis

35. Mr B’s early housing applications failed the pre-qualification stage because of unresolved housing-related debt. For the May 2024 application, Mr B did not provide all the required documents, including proof of address or financial records. However, the Council accepts that at the time, it was not providing clear information about the financial records it required, or what documents it would accept as proof of address when applicants could not supply a utility or council tax bill.
36. In June 2025, the Council changed its procedures so that applications are no longer automatically closed as incomplete when documents are missing. Applicants are now told which specific documents are outstanding and given ten days to provide them.
37. It is likely that Mr B would have provided the required documents earlier if the Council had given clear instructions from the outset.
38. At the time Mr B applied to join the register, applications from people owed a homeless duty were not automatically closed when some documents were missing and they were not disqualified due to housing related debt. Therefore, had the Council accepted the prevention duty in January 2024, Mr B’s February 2024 housing application would likely have been accepted and he would have been awarded Band B within eight weeks, by 7 April 2024. If the Council had found he had a priority need and it owed him the main housing duty, he would have qualified for Band A.

Injustice

39. Due to the Council’s failings, Mr B was unable to bid for accommodation between April 2024 and February 2025. If the Council had acted without fault, it is likely that Mr B would have successfully bid for housing by now and he would no longer be homeless.
40. Mr B has also been left with uncertainty about whether he should have been provided with self-contained accommodation since February 2024. The Council’s failings have caused Mr B significant distress and have prolonged his homelessness unnecessarily.

Back to top

Action

41. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council will provide evidence to confirm whether Mr B has a priority need and whether shared accommodation is suitable for him (I note the Council sought medical advice in July 2025). Based on these decisions, the Council will then:
• Backdate Mr B’s housing registration and banding award to 7 April 2024, reflecting the date he should have been placed in the appropriate band (Band B if he has no priority need; Band A if he does).
• Make a symbolic payment of £200 for each month that Mr B was avoidably homeless.
42. The Council will also take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr B for the failings identified in this case. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance when making the apology.
• Make a symbolic payment of £150 to Mr B to recognise the frustration and inconvenience he experienced as a result of the failings in the housing application process.
• Make a symbolic payment of £400 to recognise the significant distress Mr B suffered as a result of the Council not taking appropriate action when he asked for homelessness assistance.
43. Within eight weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Review its handling of homelessness approaches to ensure that housing needs assessments are carried out and formal decisions regarding what duty is owed are made, even if an applicant has not provided all requested documents, and even when a single applicant states that they will not live in shared accommodation.
• Review learning from this case and take action to prevent recurrence.
44. I am not making any service improvement recommendations regarding the housing application process because the Council has already changed its procedures.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Decision

46. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mr B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman