Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to properly respond to concerns about the suitability of her temporary accommodation, her safeguarding needs and her housing circumstances. There is fault in the Council's record keeping, its handling of Miss X's emergency accommodation, and its failure to evidence consideration of safeguarding concerns. These faults caused Miss X avoidable distress, inconvenience, and uncertainty. The Council agreed recommended actions to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to properly respond to concerns about the suitability of her temporary accommodation. She said it failed to deal appropriately with serious disrepair and flooding, did not adequately consider her domestic abuse and safeguarding needs, placed her in unsuitable emergency accommodation and failed to properly consider her housing circumstances.
2. Miss X said this caused significant distress, inconvenience, uncertainty and time and trouble. She also said it affected her physical and mental health, employment and finances.

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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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
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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What I have and have not investigated

7. Miss X's complaint refers to events dating back to 2018 when the Council accepted a homelessness duty and placed her in temporary accommodation. I have considered this history as background only.
8. This investigation has focused on the Council's actions from October 2024 onwards, particularly its handling of the condition and suitability of Miss X's temporary accommodation, its response to safeguarding concerns, the provision of emergency accommodation, and its consideration of her housing circumstances during that period.
9. I have not investigated the Council's earlier homelessness decisions, the suitability of accommodation provided before October 2024, or the length of time Miss X has remained in temporary accommodation since 2018, as these matters fall outside the scope of my investigation.
10. I have not investigated whether Miss X should have been awarded a particular housing priority or band. My findings are limited to the Council's administrative handling of the matter during the period investigated.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. 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

Relevant legislation and guidance

13. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
14. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206) 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)
15. Councils must consider the location of accommodation when they consider if it is suitable for the applicant and members of their household. If a council places an applicant outside its district, it must consider, among other matters:

• the distance of the accommodation from the “home” district;
• the significance of any disruption to the education of members of the applicant’s household; and
• the proximity and accessibility to local services, amenities and transport. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 2012)

16. 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;

17. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
18. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application/ a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.

What happened

19. Miss X was accommodated by the Council in temporary accommodation for several years following the Council accepting a housing duty towards her. The complaint investigated relates primarily to events from late 2024 onwards.
20. Miss X contacted the Council in July 2025 raising concerns about the condition of her temporary accommodation. She reported flooding within the property, including sewage entering the property from a manhole located inside the living room, together with mould and other disrepair concerns.
21. Miss X attended the Council's Civic Centre in late July 2025 and provided evidence of the reported conditions. The Council contacted the managing agents the same day requesting the reported issues be investigated and addressed urgently. The managing agents advised an engineer attended to stop a leak beneath the bathroom basin.
22. The Council arranged emergency hotel accommodation for Miss X and her household while the property was investigated.
23. Internal Council correspondence shows officers subsequently sought advice from a property inspector regarding the suitability of the accommodation. The inspector advised the presence of a manhole within the living room represented a significant health and safety concern and that the property should not continue to be used as temporary accommodation. The Council subsequently marked the property as unsuitable for future use.
24. Council records also show officers recognised the emergency accommodation was itself unsuitable and placed Miss X on the transfer list while alternative temporary accommodation was sought. An offer of alternative accommodation was made in August 2025.
25. Miss X also raised concerns that the Council had not properly considered her domestic abuse history and safeguarding needs. She said she was directed towards support services outside the borough despite remaining a Lambeth temporary accommodation tenant.
26. The Council responded to Miss X's complaint through its complaints procedure but did not uphold her complaint.
27. Miss X has since accepted an offer of settled accommodation in October 2025 following completion of a further Housing Needs Assessment. This was taken into consideration but does not alter the findings related to the Council’s actions during the period investigated.

Analysis and findings

Suitability of the temporary accommodation

28. Councils must ensure accommodation provided under the homelessness legislation is suitable for the applicant and their household. They should also keep adequate records to demonstrate how decisions have been reached.
29. The Council was unable to provide the inspection report or any significant records demonstrating how it satisfied itself the property remained suitable after concerns were raised. While later internal correspondence indicates officers concluded the property should no longer be used as temporary accommodation, the Council cannot evidence the assessment or decision-making process that led to that conclusion.
30. It cannot be concluded exactly when the accommodation became unsuitable or whether the Council should have reasonably identified the issues sooner. But the Council should be able to evidence the assessments and decisions it made regarding the suitability of accommodation it provided. Its failure to do so amounts to fault.

Emergency accommodation

31. The evidence shows the Council took appropriate immediate action by arranging emergency accommodation once Miss X brought the condition of the property to its attention in late July 2025.
32. But the Council's records show it subsequently concluded the emergency accommodation was not suitable for Miss X's longer-term needs. Although alternative accommodation was eventually offered about four weeks later, Miss X remained in unsuitable accommodation during the intervening period. The delay resulted in undue distress to Miss X. This was fault.

Safeguarding considerations

33. Miss X says the Council failed to properly consider her domestic abuse history and more recent safety concerns.
34. The Council was unable to provide records showing how those concerns were assessed or whether safeguarding considerations informed its housing decisions.
35. It cannot be concluded that further safeguarding consideration would necessarily have resulted in a different outcome. However, the Council should have maintained adequate records demonstrating that relevant safeguarding issues were considered where these were raised. The absence of such records creates uncertainty about whether Miss X's circumstances were properly considered. This amounts to fault.

Housing priority

36. Miss X also complained the Council had not properly considered her housing priority.
37. The Council was unable to provide records explaining its housing priority decision during the period investigated. This represents poor administrative practice and creates uncertainty about whether all relevant information was considered at the time.
38. However, the available evidence does not establish that Miss X should have been awarded a different housing priority or band. The Council has since completed a further Housing Needs Assessment before making a final offer of settled accommodation. That later assessment does not alter my findings about the earlier lack of records, but it means there is no useful purpose in recommending a fresh review of Miss X's housing priority.

Additional matters raised

39. Miss X raised further issues during the investigation. She said the Council's actions caused deterioration in her physical and mental health, financial hardship, damage to her belongings and rent arrears. The evidence supports Miss X experienced significant distress during the period investigated. But there is insufficient evidence to conclude the additional losses she describes were directly caused by the specific faults identified in this investigation and not her overall situation.
40. Claims relating to damaged belongings, replacement costs and rent arrears were not matters considered through the Council's complaints process and were raised during our investigation. No findings have therefore been made on those matters.

Injustice

41. The Council's faults caused Miss X avoidable distress, inconvenience and uncertainty. The Council's poor record keeping leaves uncertainty about whether it properly considered the suitability of her temporary accommodation, her safeguarding concerns and her housing circumstances.

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Action

42. Within one month of our final decision, the Council agreed to:
• Apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused. 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 I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay £300 to Miss X for the avoidable distress, inconvenience and uncertainty caused by the faults identified.
43. Within three months of our final decision, the Council agreed to:
• Review its arrangements for recording decisions about the suitability of temporary accommodation to ensure inspection outcomes, safeguarding considerations and the reasons for key decisions are clearly documented and retained on the Council's records.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

45. I find fault causing injustice. The Council agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman