Summary: The Council was at fault. It delayed responding to Ms X’s homelessness application, delayed accepting it owed Ms X a relief duty, communicated poorly with Ms X about a temporary accommodation property and delayed providing Ms X suitable accommodation. This caused Ms X distress, uncertainty and frustration. The Council will apologise and pay Ms X a symbolic payment. The Council has already put service improvements in place.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed and failed to progress her housing applications starting in 2016 which continued in 2021 and until she received a section 21 notice in March 2025. Ms X also complained about poor Council communication, unprofessional conduct by Council officers, failures in record keeping, lack of case co-ordination, failure to consider medical conditions and problems with her housing register application. She said it affected her whole family and caused mental and physical health impacts and distress.

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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. 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)
4. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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. As explained in paragraph three above we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman in early October 2025 about events that happened from 2016. The period between 2016 and September 2024 is late. There is no evidence Ms X could not have complained earlier and no good reasons for deciding to investigate the earlier period now.
7. My investigation started in March 2025 when Ms X contacted the Council after she was served a section 21 notice and ended in mid-December 2025 when the Council issued Ms X with its final complaint response. Any housing concerns Ms X had after mid-December 2025 with her new accommodation or other concerns will need to be considered by the Council first.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by the Council and Ms X and spoke to her on the telephone. I considered relevant law, policy and guidance and our guidance on remedies published on our website.
9. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Homelessness

10. 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.

Threatened with homelessness – definition

11. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:
• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• they have been served with a valid section 21 eviction notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5)

Assessments and Personal Housing Plans

12. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance says, rather than advise the applicant to return when homelessness is more imminent, the housing authority may wish to accept a prevention duty and begin to take reasonable steps to prevent 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)

The prevention duty

13. 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)

Relief duty

14. Where a council is satisfied a person is homeless and eligible for support, it has a duty to take reasonable steps to help the person secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months. This is the relief duty, and it applies for 56 days. The council should set out the steps that it, and the person, will take in a Personalised Housing Plan (PHP).

Main housing duty

15. If, at the end of the relief duty period, a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, has a priority need and is not intentionally homeless, the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193) The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)

What happened

16. In mid-March 2025 Ms X was served a section 21 notice from her private landlord because they were selling the property. The notice expired in mid-May 2025. Ms X said she could not afford to pay for private rental accommodation due to her deteriorating health condition and recent surgery.
17. In late March 2025 Ms X made a homelessness application to the Council and provided a large amount of supplementary documents to the Council which Ms X said it asked her to send. Ms X said she had no response to her homelessness application from the Council. Ms X said she repeatedly contacted the Council for an update by email, telephone calls and in-person.
18. In May 2025 Ms X was asked by the Council to resend the documents and a large amount of medical evidence two more times due to different Council officers considering her application. Ms X said at this point her mental health deteriorated due to her extreme stress and ongoing uncertainty.
19. In mid-May 2025 the Council arranged a meeting with Ms X. This was attended by a Council Homeless Prevention Officer, Officer 1, Ms X, her children and a family friend. At the meeting, Officer 1 said they had not read the documents Ms X sent the Council. Ms X said Officer 1 told her in the meeting she would need to arrange private rented sector (PRS) accommodation and was rude. A Council duty manager joined the meeting and explained PRS accommodation was one option available to Ms X. Ms X said she was also told she may need to move outside of the Council area. Ms X said this caused further distress due to medical appointments and her children’s school being in the Council area.
20. A day later a Council deputy manager spoke to Ms X and explained the reasons for the delay in offering her an appointment. They advised Ms X its service was under considerable pressure and it received over 100 applications a day seeking support from the service. It said it prioritised appointments in order of when they were likely to become homeless and offered later appointments to people with section 21 notices because it could assist in working with them to find alternative accommodation. The manager also explained after the expiry of a section 21 notice the need for a landlord to apply to a court for a possession order and a bailiff warrant before temporary accommodation would be offered.
21. In late May 2025 the Council sent a letter to Ms X accepting a prevention duty and issuing a personalised housing plan (PHP). It said Ms X could request a review if she was dissatisfied with its decision or the steps it asked her to take in the PHP. Ms X did not request a review.
22. In early June 2025 Ms X made a complaint to the Council. She said the Council delayed processing her homelessness application and Officer 1 was not prepared for the assessment meeting because they had not read the supplementary documents she had provided, was not professional in her assessment meeting and was rude. She gave her housing register application history and wanted the Council to support her through the process. She said the issues affected her mental health and her children’s.
23. In mid-June 2025 the Council responded to Ms X’s complaint. It apologised for any stress the interview process caused Ms X and said it was not the intention of Officer 1. It explained why it delayed offering Ms X an appointment. The Council told Ms X to tell the Council once she had received the possession order from her landlord and it would then consider accepting a relief duty. It said it would look into the private rented sector for Ms X because both locally and nationally there was a severe shortage of social housing. The same day Ms X contacted the Council and said its response did not address her points raised and she escalated her complaint with the Council.
24. In mid-July 2025 the Council sent Ms X its second stage one complaint response. The Council acknowledged the points raised in Ms X’s complaint were not addressed in the Council’s June 2025 complaint response and apologised her complaint was not addressed in full. The Council said it had taken action by reminding staff to investigate and respond to complaints in full. Ms X asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage two of the Council’s complaints process several times.
25. In early August 2025 the Council sent Ms X a letter and explained it had ended her prevention duty and owed her a relief duty. It gave Ms X a right to request a review if she was dissatisfied with the decision. Ms X did not request a review.
26. In late August 2025 the Council sent Ms X a letter and said she was considered to be unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need for accommodation. The Council accepted it owed her a main housing duty and said she would be accepted onto the Council’s homeless queue on its housing register.
27. In early September 2025 the Council offered Ms X temporary accommodation out side of the borough which Ms X refused because it was not close to her children’s school.
28. In mid-September 2025 the Council sent a stage two response to Ms X and apologised for not addressing the points she complained about in the Councils stage one complaint response. The Council said the deputy service manager had tried to contact Ms X without success but they should have responded to Ms X’s complaint. It said action would be taken for complaints to be answered in full.
29. In late September 2025 Ms X sent the Council a further complaint. She said she had continuing concerns about her housing situation. She said an initial accommodation offer had been withdrawn due to distance from her children’s school. She said she was told she would move into temporary accommodation urgently but that had not happened and she needed to remain in the local borough due to medical appointments. She said she had not received any meaningful support from the Council and was concerned about the risk of eviction due to ongoing court proceedings.
30. In early October 2025 the Council sent its stage one response to Ms X. It said there had been a breakdown in communication between the Temporary Accommodation Team and a Council manager and promises had been made that could not be fulfilled. The Council said there was no evidence the Temporary Accommodation Team attempted to make another alternative housing offer following the withdrawal of the first offer in September 2025, until it was prompted by Ms X, which resulted in unnecessary distress and uncertainty for Ms X and her family. The Council acknowledged the poor communication and handling of Ms X’s case. The Council said the situation had been rectified with the immediate offer of a new property and it would ensure that future correspondence to Ms X was clear, timely and directed to the appropriate team and she would receive written confirmation of any further actions and offers.
31. The same day the Council offered Ms X temporary accommodation but repairs to the property took longer than expected and the Council withdrew the offer in mid-November 2025. Ms X said it caused her uncertainty and distress.
32. In mid-November 2025 Ms X escalated her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints process. She said the Council had not provided her with temporary accommodation and she was still living unlawfully in her original property. She said no action had been taken by the Council since its stage one response from October 2025.
33. In late November 2025 the Council made a new offer of accommodation to Ms X. This property was ready for occupation and a week later Ms X and her family moved into the property.
34. In mid-December 2025 the Council sent Ms X its stage two response and said the Council acted on its stage one decision from early October 2025 by making an immediate offer of accommodation but Ms X could not move into the property because of unforeseen delay in repairs. The Council Temporary Accommodation Team worked to secure an alternative property which was offered and accepted within six weeks of the stage one complaint response sent in early October 2025. The Council acknowledged the shortcomings in communication and delay in securing a ready to occupy accommodation and apologised for the distress and uncertainty caused. It said learning from the case would be shared with relevant teams to improve coordination and communication.

My findings

2025 Homelessness application delay

35. The Council delayed offering a homelessness assessment and did not manage her expectations about how quickly it would do this, which was fault. It also required her to submit the same documents more than once, which was further fault. These faults caused uncertainty and frustration and Ms X was put to avoidable time and effort pursuing the matter at an already difficult time.

Homelessness Assessment

36. It would have been good practice for Officer 1 to have read the documents submitted in advance of the homelessness assessment. However, this is not sufficient to warrant a formal finding of fault. It was not fault for the Council to say Ms X needed to consider PRS, nor to warn her she could be placed out of the Council area. The Council has already apologised for any distress caused by Officer 1’s handling of the assessment meeting, which is sufficient to remedy the injustice caused.

Delay in accepting housing duties

37. The Council accepted it owed Ms X the prevention duty in mid-May 2025 and said that would last 56 days. The Council did not accept it owed Ms X a relief duty until early August 2025 which was a delay of approximately three weeks and was fault. Although Ms X remained in her existing private rental property and was not evicted, this fault caused uncertainty. There was no delay in accepting a main housing duty.

Temporary Accommodation delay

38. The Homelessness Code of Guidance says it is unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy their accommodation beyond the expiry of a section 21 notice, unless the Council is taking steps to persuade the landlord to allow the applicant to stay in the property whilst an alternative is found. There is no evidence the Council was in contact with the landlord in this case and the Council’s advice to Ms X suggests it routinely delays arranging interim accommodation until a possession order is obtained. However, we cannot say, even on balance, whether the Council would have decided it owed an interim accommodation duty in mid-May 2025, when the notice expired, if it had properly considered the matter.
39. In early August 2025, the Council accepted a relief duty. This means it accepted Ms X was homeless. Ms X was in priority need because she had dependent children. The Council therefore owed an interim accommodation duty at this point. The Council did not arrange interim accommodation, which was fault.
40. The Council made an initial temporary accommodation offer in early September 2025, which was withdrawn because of the distance to Ms X’s children’s school. The Council accepts it did not take active steps to identify alternative temporary accommodation until Ms X prompted them. This was further fault.
41. The Council accepts and has already apologised for a delay and poor communication in relation to an offer of temporary accommodation in October 2025. It did not arrange interim or temporary accommodation until November 2025 which was a delay of approximately three months and caused avoidable distress and uncertainty to Ms X and her family.

Council complaint responses

42. The Council acknowledged its complaint responses did not always respond to all Ms X’s concerns, which caused Ms X uncertainty and frustration. It has already apologised for this and has already put a service improvement in place. This remedied the injustice caused to Ms X.

Service improvements

43. The Ombudsman has already made service recommendations to this Council to prevent future injustice from similar fault on similar cases. These service improvements have been made during and since the events in this investigation. The Council has agreed to improve complaints handling and its handling of homelessness applications. On this basis no further recommendations were needed.

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Action

44. Within one month of the final decision the Council will apologise and pay Ms X £500 to acknowledge the distress, uncertainty and frustration caused by the delay in processing Ms X’s homelessness application, delay with accepting the relief duty and poor communication and delay with sourcing suitable accommodation in Autumn 2025. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.
45. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

46. I have completed my investigation finding fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused. The Council has already put service improvements in place.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman