Summary: The Council was at fault for not considering whether it could provide Mr X homelessness assistance after it knew he had left his accommodation. This caused Mr X uncertainty about whether he could have received help from the Council sooner. To remedy the injustice caused the Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the uncertainty caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the level of housing support he received after he and his daughter fled domestic abuse.
2. Mr X said the whole situation has caused him and his daughter a significant amount of stress.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)
6. 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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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr 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 have and have not investigated

9. I have not investigated the Council’s decision not to allow Mr X to join its housing register in August 2023. This is because too much time has passed since Mr X complained about this and Mr X had review rights he could have chosen to exercise to challenge this decision.
10. I have however exercised discretion to look at whether the Council should have considered its homelessness duties in August 2023. This is because Mr X sought advice from a support organisation who gave him advice about the homelessness process in October 2024. It was only following this advice he raised the matter as a complaint. Therefore I consider there were good reasons as to why he did not complain to us sooner about this.

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What I found

Homelessness

11. 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.
12. 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)
13. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
14. 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)
15. Councils 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)
16. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need and not homeless intentionally, the council has a duty to make accommodation available (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Housing register

17. 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))
18. 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))
19. Councils must notify applicants in writing of the following decisions and give reasons:
• that the applicant is not eligible for an allocation;
• that the applicant is not a qualifying person;
• a decision not to award the applicant reasonable preference because of their unacceptable behaviour.
20. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
21. The Council operates a choice based lettings scheme where applicants can bid on properties which become available. Properties are then allocated to the applicant who has placed a bid with the highest priority.
22. The Council’s allocations policy says there are circumstances where it will make a direct offer of accommodation and not advertise the property. This includes to applicants who have the Main Housing Duty or other exceptional circumstances.

What happened

23. In June 2023, Mr X approached the Council and reported to a social worker he was suffering domestic abuse from his partner. In July 2023, a MARAC meeting was held and the Council’s adult social care, children’s services and housing teams attended along with the police.
24. In July 2023, Mr X approached the Council’s housing team for assistance and applied to join the Council’s housing register for himself and his disabled daughter.
25. In early August 2023, the Council wrote to Mr X and told him he did not qualify to join the housing register as the Council considered he had sufficient financial resources to meet his own housing needs. Mr X said at this time the Council told him he had made himself homeless intentionally as he had left his family home.
26. In November 2023, Mr X found accommodation in the private sector to rent for himself and his disabled daughter. Mr X signed a 12 month tenancy agreement. This was accommodation Mr X said was suitable for his daughter’s needs as the property had adaptations for her disabilities.
27. In July 2024, Mr X contacted the Council’s housing team to ask for assistance as his 12 month fixed term tenancy was ending and his landlord wanted to increase the rent to an amount he could not afford. The Council carried out a homelessness assessment of Mr X in August 2024 and decided to owe him the Prevention Duty. The Council also placed Mr X into Band 3 on its housing register as it owed him a homelessness Prevention Duty.
28. In August and September 2024, Mr X’s daughter’s social worker from the Council’s adult social care team contacted the Council’s housing team. The social worker told the housing team about Mr X’s situation with the adult social care team and asked if they could provide any information for Mr X’s housing application.
29. In late October 2024, Mr X complained to the Council about how it had handled his housing situation. This was after he sought advice from a domestic abuse support organisation who told him the Council should have offered him homelessness assistance in 2023. Mr X also raised concerns about how his current housing application was being handled and that he had to provide further information about his daughter despite her being involved with the Council’s adult social care team.
30. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in November 2024. The Council said it was standard procedure to ask for information about his daughter’s disabilities and he should continue to bid for properties on the housing register. The Council told him should his homelessness situation get worse he should let the homelessness prevention team know.
31. Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint at stage two of its process in late November 2024. Mr X said the Council did not respond to his concerns about not helping him in 2023 when he fled domestic abuse. Mr X also said he cannot bid on properties as he is unsure whether they are suitable for his daughter’s needs.
32. In November 2024, the Council passed Mr X’s daughter’s medical information to an occupational therapist to consider what property types would be suitable for her.
33. In December 2024, the Council decided it owed Mr X the Main Housing Duty.
34. The Council provided its final response to Mr X’s complaint in late December 2024. The Council said:
• It did not consider all his complaint at stage one and apologised.
• In 2023 Mr X did not qualify to join the housing register because of his financial resources. The Council said it signposted him to its homelessness service but could have referred him directly to this service.
• Before October 2024 there was nothing on record to show the involvement of adult social care with his daughter and because of data protection departments do not share information.
• His current housing register application was up to date and if he successfully bids on a property an occupational therapist will review the property to decide whether it is suitable for his daughter’s needs.
35. In February 2025, the Council decided Mr X’s circumstances meant he was eligible to receive a direct offer of housing through its housing register.
36. In March 2025, the Council received feedback from the occupational therapist that Mr X needed a three bedroom property and a bathroom on both floors, or if the property was on one floor he needed a large bathroom.
37. In April 2025, Mr X received a direct offer of a property from the Council’s housing register which he accepted.

Findings

38. In July 2023, Mr X approached the Council for housing assistance. It appears the Council took a housing register application from Mr X and decided he did not qualify to join based on his financial resources. Mr X had the right to challenge this decision by way of review.
39. Mr X said at this time the Council told him he had made himself intentionally homeless so would not provide him with assistance. The Council denies this and said it only told Mr X to approach its homelessness service but did not refer him. I have not seen any evidence that the Council told Mr X he had made himself homeless intentionally and refused to provide homelessness assistance on that basis. However I am satisfied the Council should have directly referred Mr X’s case to its homelessness service to see whether the Council owed Mr X any homelessness duties as it knew he had left his family home due to issues of domestic abuse. Failure to consider whether it owed Mr X any homelessness duties was fault.
40. I cannot say what would have happened had the Council carried out a homelessness assessment in August 2023 or whether it would have definitely decided it owed Mr X any homelessness duties. However the injustice caused by this fault is that there is uncertainty about whether the Council would have owed Mr X any homelessness duties sooner. If so, there is the possibility that he may have received an offer of permanent accommodation from the Council’s housing register sooner.
41. When Mr X approached the Council for homelessness assistance in August 2024, the Council decided to owe him the Prevention Duty and placed him onto its housing register.
42. Following on from this Mr X said there were delays considering his daughter’s medical needs and deciding on what type of property was suitable. It took the Council until March 2025 to obtain confirmation from an occupational therapist about what adaptations were needed to a property so it would be suitable for Mr X’s daughter. In August and September 2024, the social worker involved with Mr X’s daughter contacted the Council’s housing team and offered to provide supporting information, however the Council has said in its complaint response there was nothing in its records to show adult social care involvement. If the housing team had asked the social worker for information, it may have been able to consider what type of accommodation was suitable for Mr X’s daughter sooner. While this is minor fault I do not consider it caused injustice as on balance I do not consider it would have resulted in Mr X obtaining an offer of accommodation sooner. This is because Mr X was only placed on to the direct offers list in February 2025 and shortly after this received a direct offer.

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Agreed Action

43. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Mr X for the injustice caused by the above fault.
• Pay Mr X £200 to recognise the uncertainty he suffered as a result of the Council not passing his case to its homelessness service in August 2023.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman