Summary: The complaint is about the Council’s delay in moving Mr B and his family from unsuitable temporary accommodation. We find fault in the delay which was because of service failure. This meant the family lived (and continue to live) in unsuitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to our recommendations for actions to remedy the injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains:
1. the Council placed him and his family in unsuitable temporary accommodation;
2. the Council failed to consider his existing medical conditions before pressuring him to move from a four-bedroom property to his current three-bedroom temporary accommodation; and
3. he cannot install aids or medical equipment into the property the family are in, as the Council has said modifications are not allowed in temporary accommodation.
2. Mr B seeks a move to permanent accommodation and compensation from the Council.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), 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)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. The original decision to move Mr B and his family to the accommodation was one where Mr B has used his right of review. As Mr B successfully overturned the Council’s decision about the suitability of the property, the Ombudsman will not consider those parts of Mr B’s complaint (see parts a and b of paragraph 1).

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr B 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

Legal and administrative background

9. 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.

Homeless definition, including if not reasonable to remain in current accommodation

10. 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)
11. 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. This is called the main housing duty. The Council can discharge its main housing duty by offering an applicant permanent housing, either in social housing or in the private sector.
12. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193) Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206)
13. Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability. (Housing Act 1996, section 202) 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)
14. Many councils face severe pressures in securing accommodation, including temporary accommodation. Caselaw has clarified:
• there may be situations where, despite its best efforts, a council might not be able to secure suitable accommodation for an applicant;
• the lack of alternative accommodation may be a factor affecting what is suitable in the short or medium term;
• the housing authority’s limited resources to secure accommodation may also be a relevant factor; but
• where lack of accommodation is a factor, a housing authority would need to show, with sufficiently detailed evidence, the steps it had taken, and the reasons why it had not been possible to find suitable alternative accommodation. (R (Imam) v Croydon (2022) EWCA Civ 601)

What happened

15. The information below is a summary of relevant events, and does not include everything that happened during this period.
16. Mr B and his family were living in a private rented sector tenancy. They had been on the waiting list for a four-bedroom Council property since 2008. Mr B has significant disabilities. The Council has advised Mr B that applicants with his circumstances and priority wait an average of 19 years for social housing.
17. In the summer of 2023 Mr B’s landlord served him with a notice to quit their home. Mr B approached the Council and made a homelessness application. The Council accepted it had a homeless duty. It found the family a private sector property as temporary accommodation.
18. In May 2024 the Council advised Mr B it needed to move his family from their temporary accommodation to new temporary accommodation. The day after the family moved Mr B suffered a serious deterioration in his health. This affected his ability to access some of the rooms in the property.
19. In September Mr B requested a review of the suitability of the accommodation the Council had moved his family to.
20. In October a NHS occupational therapist who was working with Mr B twice contacted the Council:
• saying the property was unsuitable;
• asking, as a short-term measure, for the Council to make some minor adaptations to the accommodation.
21. At the end of October the Council reviewed the suitability of the accommodation. It found the accommodation was unsuitable.
22. Mr B asked for a review of the Council’s decision about the suitability of the accommodation, as he wanted it to move him to permanent accommodation.
23. At the end of December 2024 the Council advised Mr B there was a shortage of suitable accommodation for it to rehouse Mr B and his family to. So they needed to stay in the temporary accommodation until it could make him a suitable offer of alternative accommodation. It said it was making its best efforts to find suitable accommodation.
24. Through 2025 Mr B made further complaints. The Council responded in September. It noted he and his family were awaiting a move.
25. Mr B also asked for an increase in his priority to the Council’s housing waiting list. The Council considered the application, but did not increase Mr B’s priority.
26. Mr B complained to the Ombudsman. I asked the Council to provide its records of its attempts, from its October 2024 review decision, to try to secure suitable accommodation. I asked for case notes, communications with third parties, including providers, internal communications or any other evidence to show the Council had been actively seeking suitable accommodation.
27. In response, the Council provided some emails. Most were emails with Mr B and others advocating on his behalf. One email exchange from September 2025 was about trying to find alternative accommodation.
28. Over recent years the Ombudsman has found fault with the Council around similar issues on three occasions. The Council has cited the “housing crisis” as the reason for its delay in re-housing applicants.

Analysis

29. I have investigated the Council’s actions after its review decision. If a council agrees accommodation is unsuitable, it owes an immediate duty to provide suitable accommodation. We can make findings about complaints from people who remain in temporary accommodation after a council accepts it is unsuitable.
30. I asked the Council to show the steps it had taken to try to secure suitable accommodation for Mr B and his family in around the year since it decided the accommodation they were in was unsuitable. The records it has shown me do not demonstrate it has taken sufficiently sustained attempts to secure alternative accommodation (see paragraph 14). That was fault.
31. In similar complaints the Council has said it is experiencing a severe shortage of available housing. I accept that was the reason for the fault. I therefore find the fault was service failure, not maladministration.
32. The fault means Mr B and his family have lived, and continue to live, in unsuitable accommodation. The injustice began at the end of October 2024, after the Council found the property unsuitable. And it continues, as Mr B advises his family are still in the property.
33. As a short-term solution, Mr B’s occupational therapist suggested some minor adaptations. Mr B tells me the Council could not make the required adaptations as it was temporary accommodation. But the fact the property could not be adapted is a factor to take into account of when assessing the injustice to Mr B.
34. I cannot say the Council should provide Mr B with permanent accommodation. The fault I have found is with unsuitable temporary accommodation and the Council could remedy that by providing suitable temporary accommodation.
35. How the Council decides applicants’ priority is for it to assess, by reference to national law and its own policies. It has considered evidence from Mr B asking for an increased priority, but has not changed its view about his priority. I see no fault in its decision making about this issue, so I cannot question the merits of the decision.

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Agreed action

36. Within a month of my final decision, I recommended the Council take the following actions.
1. Apologise to Mr B for the injustice caused by the unsuitable accommodation. 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 in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
2. Make a payment to Mr B of £3850 (£275 per month x 14 months: November 2024 to December 2025) for the injustice caused by remaining in unsuitable accommodation;
3. make Mr B a monthly payment of £275 until it moves Mr B and his family to alternative (suitable) accommodation, up to a maximum of six months.
37. Within three months of the final decision, I recommended the Council review how it can improve its approach to searching for suitable properties when it finds an applicant is living in unsuitable accommodation, so it complies with its legal duties (see paragraph 14).
38. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. It 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 actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman