Summary: We found there was fault in the way the Council dealt with a disrepair report Miss X made. The Council did not properly address its duty to take appropriate action under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). We also found there was some delay in the Council deciding Miss X’s application to join the housing register but we found its decision not to allow this was in accordance with its policy. We recommended an apology and a payment to recognise the fault caused uncertainty to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to take account of the poor housing conditions she was living in when declining her application to join the housing register. She complained she was unable to stay there and had to look for other places to stay. She also complained the stress of the situation caused ill health.

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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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Miss 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 found

Housing Act 2004 & Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)

6. Local authorities have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (introduced by the Housing Act 2004, Part 1) to take enforcement action against private landlords where the council has identified a hazard at a property which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk.
7. Section 5(1) of the Act states, if a council considers a Category One hazard exists in residential premises they are under a duty, and must take the most appropriate enforcement action set out in that section. 
8. Section 7(1) of the Act gives the Council powers (but does not place a duty on the Council) to act on Category Two hazards.
9. The actions a council can take (for Category One or Two hazards) are similar. These include issuing an improvement notice, prohibition order, or hazard awareness notice. They also allow the Council to make demolition orders or slum clearance declarations in more extreme cases.

The Council’s Housing Allocations Policy

10. 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))
11. The Council uses a points system for assessing applications to join its housing register. People who qualify are awarded points to measure their housing priority by their circumstances. Due to the severe shortage of housing in Enfield, only applicants with 100 points or more are eligible to join and bid on properties.
12. Section 5.11 states that key workers will be entitled to 300 housing priority points.
13. Section 7.7 states the Council will use the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) and Part X (10) Housing Act to assess if someone’s existing property is insanitary or unsuitable. In reaching this decision, it will consider whether the private sector rented property could be made suitable through repairs or adaptations, and whether the household could afford alternative suitable accommodation in the private rented sector.
14. Section 7.22 of the policy states that priority for housing will be reduced to zero points if someone has rent arrears that are more than eight times the weekly rent charge. Their application will be treated as inactive until the arrears are cleared or an agreement to repay them has been maintained for six months.

What Happened

Housing Disrepair

15. Miss X rented a private three-bedroom property in the Council’s area. She lived in the property with her three children.
16. On 7 October 2024 she made a report to the Council of disrepair issues at the property. The Council visited promptly and the officer who visited completed a Licensing Inspection Report setting out what they found, room by room. The officer found:

• A significant pest infestation
• Fire hazards
• No heating or hot water
• Damp and mould issues
• Kitchen defects
• Trip hazards
• Water ingress via a leak

17. Some areas of the report included recommendations. The report recommended employing a pest control contractor, providing new mechanical ventilation in the bathroom and fixing or replacing defective smoke detectors. No other recommendations were made in the report. The Council stated it sent a ’post inspection letter’ to the landlords and managing agent.
18. The Council told us it was following the ‘staged approach’ in its enforcement policy. It stated the hazards were determined to be Category Two, not Category One, so the officer was exercising powers under Section 7(1) of the Housing Act rather than being under a duty to act under Section 5(1) of the Act. However, the Council also provided evidence of how it assessed various hazards in October under the HHSRS. This showed some of the faults were considered to be Category Two, but the lack of heating and hot water was a Category One hazard.
19. During October the Council was in contact with the landlord and agent on numerous occasions to seek remedial actions. It was noted that the heating system was defective and the landlord arranged for a boiler inspection. Various other issues were discussed.
20. On 16 October the Council made a referral to its Temporary Accommodation Team to provide Miss X and her children with interim accommodation until the remedial works were completed. This resulted in an offer of accommodation being made to Miss X on 21 October after the Council accepted a relief duty under homelessness legislation. In its correspondence, the Council made it clear that this was the only accommodation available and it explained the implications of refusing it.
21. Miss X refused this offer at the start of November.
22. On 4 November the Council noted the landlord was not responding to correspondence and Miss X was not allowing access for inspections.
23. On 5 November the Council says it re-inspected the property. It found the schedule of works was partially completed, but the pest infestation and boiler issue remained outstanding. A further inspection in early January found the works still outstanding.
24. The Council says it told the landlord it would be taking enforcement action if the remedial work was not done and it received evidence by email that suggested the hot water was working.
25. A complaint from the landlord limited actions until March when the Council served a notice requiring access to the property and met the landlord. The Council sent informal directives to the landlord following this. There is evidence of follow up and some actions, but the boiler issues remained unresolved.
26. The Council issued an Improvement Notice in May 2025. However, no tangible action to resolve the issues took place. In September 2025 the Council was made aware of the landlord’s intention to replace the boiler the following week, but this did not happen until December 2025. At the time of Miss X’s complaint the Improvement Notice remained in place and was subject to appeal by the landlord. This had placed a hold on further remedial works.

Miss X’s application to join the Housing register

27. In addition to reporting disrepair at her home, Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register in or around October 2024.
28. The Council requested various additional documents to consider her medical and employment situation. Miss X sent in medical information in November. This was passed to its medical advisers to review. She provided employment details in early December.
29. In January the Council acknowledged there was a delay in reviewing the medical information.
30. The Council reached a decision on the application in February 2025. The Council told Miss X she was not eligible to join the housing register. It did not give her priority for health and welfare because a move would not improve her health in itself. The Council noted Miss X’s existing property had the required number of bedrooms and it considered she was adequately housed. It noted the disrepair issues which it reported to another Private Sector Enforcement Team and its Environmental Health Team to investigate.
31. While there were disrepair issues at the property, the Council stated its allocations scheme required consideration of the severity of the disrepair and whether it could be resolved via enforcement action. The Private Sector Enforcement Team determined that action was possible to bring the property back up to a suitable standard and they were liaising with the landlord to ensure the required works were completed. In the meantime, temporary accommodation had been offered, recognising that, while repairs were done, Miss X needed alternative accommodation.
32. In 2025 the Council re-assessed Miss X’s circumstances and awarded 300 priority points reflecting that she was a key worker. This would allow her to join the housing register. However, its allocation policy also says that if someone has significant rent arrears, their points will be reduced to zero until they can evidence they have maintained a repayment plan for the arrears for a period of 6 months. Miss X had significant rent arrears, which meant that her application would remain inactive until she could show a pattern of repayment for the arrears.

What Should have Happened

Disrepair Issues

33. We found there was fault in the way the Council dealt with Miss X’s reports of disrepair.
34. The Council provided evidence that it found a Category One hazard when it inspected Miss X’s property in October 2024. I acknowledge that the Council did contact the landlord and agent and took informal actions to seek repairs. However, it was under a duty to take the most appropriate of the prescribed actions under Section 5(1) of the Housing Act. The Council did not do this. It only dealt with the matter informally when it first established the hazard. This was fault.
35. It was not until May 2025, seven months later, that the Council issued an Improvement Notice. The law does not allow for a long period of informal action if a Category One hazard is identified. The law mandates prescribed actions be taken when Category One hazards are identified because they represent the most risk.
36. Despite contact from the Council, the landlord did not address the issues for a prolonged period. However, if the Council had taken the formal action it was required to, it is possible that the necessary works may have been acted upon on sooner. We found, as a result, Miss X has the uncertainty of not knowing whether more formal action, as required by law, may have led to a swifter resolution of the issues she reported. This is an injustice that should be remedied.
37. While we found there was some injustice to Miss X, we found the fault did not lead to Miss X being forced to remain in unsatisfactory housing for longer than she should have. I say this because, alongside its handling of the repairs issues, the Council had accepted a homelessness relief duty towards Miss X and it offered her temporary accommodation nearby while the Council sought repairs to her property by the landlord. It was open to Miss X to accept this accommodation while the disrepair issues were being resolved.

Housing Register Application

38. There was some delay in carrying out an assessment of medical information and reaching a decision on her housing application. This was fault.
39. Miss X’s application to join the housing register was initially declined. When she was found to be eligible, her application was placed on hold until she had shown she was repaying the arrears.
40. I found that the Council’s decision that Miss X’s property was appropriate for her needs, and that Miss X was adequately housed, were decisions it was entitled to take. Miss X’s property was in a state of disrepair, and action was needed to address the hazards, but the Council determined that the disrepair could be remedied and it was taking action to address this, as I describe above. Once this was done the property in itself had sufficient room and was suitable for Miss X to occupy in the longer term. In the short term, the Council had offered Miss X temporary accommodation to ensure she was suitable housed.
41. Taken in context, I found the Council’s decisions on Miss X’s housing register application were ones it was entitled to make. Aside from the delay in making a decision on her application, I found no fault in the Council’s decisions on the housing application. The later decisions the Council took regarding key worker status and rent arrears were decisions in line with its policy and I found no fault in them either.

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Action

42. Within four weeks of my final decision:
43. The Council should write to Miss X to apologise for not carrying out its duty to take appropriate action, having found a Category One hazard at Miss X’s property in October 2024.
44. The failure to take appropriate action on Miss X’s housing disrepair report caused uncertainty about whether the issues at her property may have been resolved sooner, if the fault had not occurred. To recognise this, I recommend the Council makes a payment to Miss X of £200.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

46. I find fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman