Summary: The Council failed to provide suitable temporary accommodation for eleven months and did not reply to complaints about the delay in providing suitable accommodation. During this time, the complainant had a four-hour daily commute to get her to work and get her children to school. This left them exhausted and out of pocket. The Council will apologise and pay the complainant £2,400.

The complaint

1. The complainant whom I will call Miss X complains the Council:

• agreed in January 2018 the temporary accommodation it provided for her is not suitable but did not move her.
• did not provide her with any information and did not reply to her complaints.

2. Miss X says she works in central London and her three young children attend school in Waltham Forest. She spent four hours a day commuting between accommodation, school and work; which was expensive, stressful and exhausting for her and her children. She says it affected the wellbeing of herself and her children.

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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 an injustice, 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 a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the complaint made by Miss X and discussed it with her. I asked the Council for its response and information and considered what it sent.
7. Miss X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of my decision. I considered what they said before I made a final decision.

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What I found

8. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless it owes them the main homelessness duty. A council usually carries out the duty by arranging temporary accommodation until it makes a suitable offer of social housing or private rented accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
9. The council must ensure all accommodation it provides to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household.   (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
10. Councils must consider the suitability of the location of accommodation it offers. If a council places an applicant outside its district, it must consider, among other matters:

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

11. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of the council’s decision on their application. This includes a right to request a review of the suitability of temporary accommodation provided by the council. (Housing Act 1996, section 202)
12. An officer not involved in the original decision and who is senior to the original decision maker must carry out the review. The reviewing officer must consider the whole application afresh and can take account of any new material or facts that have come to light since the original decision. (Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Review Procedures) Regulations 1999)
13. Councils must complete the review within eight weeks of receiving the review request. It can only extend this if the applicant agrees in writing. If the applicant wants to challenge the review decision, or if a council takes more than eight weeks to complete the review, the applicant may appeal to the County Court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202 and 204)

The Council’s policy on allocating temporary accommodation

14. The Council places all temporary accommodation it has in three zones. In 2017 these were:

• Zone A – the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
• Zone B – a nearby borough, i.e. Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney,

Islington, Haringey, Enfield, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham or Epping Forest.

• Zone C – outside Zones A and B.

15. On 27 February 2018 the Council changed this to:

• Zone A – the London Borough of Waltham Forest.
• Zone B – Greater London and neighbouring districts in Essex/Hertfordshire
• Zone C – located outside of Zones A and B

16. The Council carries out an assessment to decide who has priority for accommodation within or close to the Borough. Among the factors it considers is whether an applicant has a child in school year 11 and if someone in the household has settled employment. For the latter, the Council prioritises the household for accommodation as close as possible to the workplace.

What happened

17. In 2017 the Council accepted the full homelessness duty to Miss X. She had three children aged ten and under and works in Westminster. The Council assessed Miss X’s accommodation needs and decided it could place her in Zone B
18. In October 2017 the Council gave Miss X temporary accommodation in Barnet.
19. On 8 November 2017 Miss X asked the Council to review the suitability of the property in Barnet. She said she had to commute four hours a day to get her children to school and then to get to work.
20. On 25 November 2017 Miss X’s legal representative asked for more time to provide information to the Council. The representative said she would allow a similar extension for the Council’s decision.
21. The Council sent Miss X its decision on 25 January 2018. It agreed the accommodation in Barnet was not suitable as it was too far from her work and the children’s schools and nursery. The Council said it would contact Miss X when it found suitable accommodation for her.
22. On 19 April 2018 Miss X asked the Council when it would move her. The Council said it could not give a time frame.
23. On 23 April 2018 Shelter complained to the Council by email on behalf of Miss X. The Council acknowledged the email the same day and said it had registered the email as a complaint. It said it had not yet found anything suitable for Miss X.
24. On 15 May Miss X emailed the Council. She told the Council the problems her family faced. She wanted the outcome of the complaint of 23 April. The Council replied it did not have any suitable accommodation available. On 16 May the Council told Miss X it did not have a complaint registered from her as Shelter had sent its email to the Temporary Accommodation Team, not the Complaints Team.
25. On 5 June Shelter sent another complaint to the Council. Shelter asked the Council to register the complaint as one made under the corporate complaints procedure. Shelter wanted to know what the Council was doing to find suitable accommodation for Miss X, why it had taken so long; and how much longer Miss X had to wait. Shelter sent another email on 12 June as the Council had not acknowledged the complaint. On 16 July Shelter again emailed the Council because of its lack of response.
26. Miss X emailed the Council on 11 September 2018 to say she had waited 8 months since the review result. She said her life was hard and her children were suffering. The Council replied on 12 September that it was doing its best to find her suitable accommodation.
27. On 28 September 2018 the Council offered Miss X a private rented tenancy in Tower Hamlets in discharge of its homelessness duty. Miss X refused the offer and the Council ended its homelessness duty to her. Miss X asked for a review of this decision. The Council did not change its decision. Miss X decided not to appeal to Court and left the temporary accommodation.

What the Council says

28. The Council says it has a limited pool of properties available for temporary accommodation and is in competition with other Boroughs for those properties. It says it has a dedicated officer checking what is available.
29. The Council says it matches available temporary properties to those waiting for a transfer according to the number of bedrooms. It then priorities some applications. It prioritises;

• applicants in Bed and Breakfast;
• those about to be evicted from temporary accommodation;
• any medical needs for adapted accommodation; and
• social needs such as a child in a final year of GCSEs or on child protection plan.

30. The Council says between June and September 2018 it allocated alternative temporary three bedroom properties to four applicants who had not waited as long as Miss X. It says two needed an adapted property and one had a child taking GCSEs. It says the fourth was a “decant” from an estate it is regenerating.

Analysis

31. In October 2017 the Council assessed Miss X as eligible for Zone B. The Council’s policy in October 2017 did not include Barnet in Zone B, this only changed in February 2018.
32. The Council offered Miss X accommodation in Zone C. The property was suitable in size but not location. Miss X asked for a review of suitability and in January 2018 the Council decided the location of the property was not suitable. The Council did not offer Miss X any suitable temporary accommodation. In September 2018 if offered Miss X a property to discharge its homelessness duty. Therefore, Miss X lived in unsuitable accommodation for 11 months.
33. We understand the pressure on councils, particularly those in high rent areas, to find enough good quality temporary accommodation for those it has a housing duty to. Nevertheless, the law places a duty on a Council to secure suitable temporary accommodation and it is clear the Council did not do this. This is fault.
34. The Council’s failure to provide suitable accommodation to Miss X caused her injustice. Miss X had hours of commuting every day which was exhausting for her and her children. She also had extra expense because of the extra transport costs.
35. We have no grounds to exercise discretion and consider if the offer the Council made in September 2018 was suitable. Miss X had the right of appeal to the Court.
36. The Council failed to respond to the complaints made by Shelter. This is fault It caused injustice to Miss X because of unnecessary time, trouble and frustration.

Agreed action

37. We provide guidance on remedies. We usually recommend a payment of between £150 and £300 a month where a complainant has not had suitable accommodation during what is a stressful time. In this case the unsuitable accommodation meant Miss X and her children had long journeys to school and work, creating problems at work and school. Miss X also had extra transport costs. I consider £200 a month a fair reflection of this.
38. To put matter right for Miss X within one month of my final decision the Council will:

• Apologise to Miss X;
• Pay Miss X £2,400. This is 11 months at £200 and £200 for her time and trouble.

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Final decision

39. The Council is at fault and caused Miss X injustice. The Council has agreed to provide a suitable remedy. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman