Norwich City Council (18 016 851)

Category : Housing > Homelessness

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 28 Aug 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mrs X complains about how the Council handled her housing situation, including its decision to disqualify her from its housing register and the action it took when she was threatened with homelessness. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council as it did not show it had properly considered Mrs X’s evidence in its review response and did not review her personal housing plan. However, this did not cause Mrs X significant injustice, so no remedy is necessary.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains about how the Council handled her housing situation. This included:
    • The Council’s decision to disqualify her from its housing register.
    • The action the Council took when she approached it for assistance in June 2018 and February 2019.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  3. 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

  1. I considered the information provided by Mrs X and the Council. I discussed the complaint with Mrs X over the telephone. I sent a draft of this decision to Mrs X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

  1. The Homelessness reduction Act 2017 says if a local authority is satisfied an applicant is eligible for assistance and threatened with homelessness, it must make an assessment of the applicant’s case.
  2. The local authority’s assessment of the applicant’s case must include the following:
    • Details of the circumstances that caused the applicant to become homeless or threatened with homelessness.
    • The housing needs of the applicant.
    • Whether any support is needed for the applicant to retain suitable accommodation.
  3. The local authority must notify the applicant in writing of the outcome of the assessment. The local authority must try to agree with the applicant the steps the applicant and local authority should take to prevent the applicant from becoming homeless. The local authority should record this in a personalised housing plan (PHP).
  4. The Homelessness Code of Guidance says local authorities must keep assessments and PHP’s under review. In addition, local authorities will wish to establish timescales for reviewing plans.
  5. The Housing Act 1996 says every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme which sets out how it prioritises applicants and its procedures for allocating housing. A local authority must allocate accommodation in accordance with its scheme.
  6. The Council’s home options policy says the Council can disqualify an applicant from the scheme if they have serious rent arrears which the Council believes would entitle the landlord to possession of the property. The Council can also disqualify applicants if they provide false information to the Council or contrive their circumstances to improve banding.

Background

  1. Mrs X contacted the Council in June 2018 as her landlord had issued a section 21 notice to leave the property. She attended a housing advice (prevention) interview where the Council completed a PHP with her. The Council agreed as part of the PHP to review Mrs X’s banding on the housing register and carry out a private sector lease referral.
  2. Mrs X says she told the Council at this interview who lived at her property. She told the Council her daughter, D, was part of her household but was currently unable to live at the property due to recovering from surgery and as a result could not access her bed.
  3. The Council made further enquiries with the agents of Mrs X’s landlord who confirmed the landlord intended to take possession due to a change of circumstances. The agents confirmed they had received and protected a deposit however, there were rent arrears over £700.
  4. Shortly after the Council wrote to Mrs X to confirm it had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent her from becoming homeless. The Council also sent Mrs X a copy of her PHP setting out the steps the Council asked her to take to help prevent homelessness.
  5. In early July 2018 the Council carried out an unannounced visit to Mrs X’s property. Mrs X says she explained to the Council officer who lived at the property however, D was staying with her grandmother, N, whilst recovering from an operation. Mrs X could not provide the address for N but told the Council the area where she lived. The Council officer’s notes from the visit say D’s room had a high rise bed and the family were using it for storage.
  6. On 11 July 2018 the Council visited N’s property. N confirmed D was not living with her. The Council’s notes from the visit say N said D lived with her boyfriend elsewhere where she was working. When she is not working, D stays with Mrs X.
  7. In late July 2018 the Council wrote to Mrs X cancelling her housing register application. The Council said Mrs X had provided false information as it did not believe D lived with Mrs X.
  8. On 30 July 2018 Mrs X asked for a review of this decision. As part of the review she provided the following information:
    • A letter from D saying she was only staying with her boyfriend as a temporary measure until she recovers as her bedroom has a built in raised bed she cannot access.
    • A letter from N saying D was staying with her boyfriend due to her surgery.
    • A medical letter outlining D’s medical issues.
    • Housing benefit statement showing the Council’s benefits department is applying a non-dependent deduction for D living at the property.
  9. The Council’s review panel considered the case and completed the review on 31 August 2018. The Council sent a letter to Mrs X upholding the decision to remove her from the housing register. The decision letter did not reference any evidence Mrs X provided or how it had been considered by the review panel.
  10. In late October 2018 Mrs X complained to the Council about its decision to disqualify her from the housing register. She said the officer visiting her did not listen to the information she provided and asked the Council to review her application.
  11. The Council responded in early November 2018 to say it had followed its policy in removing Mrs X from the housing register.
  12. In December 2018 the court considered the notice Mrs X had received to leave her property to be invalid. The Council ended its prevention duty by writing to Mrs X. The Council considered Mrs X had suitable accommodation available to her which will likely remain available for six months. Mrs X says she did not receive this letter from the Council.
  13. In January 2019 Mrs X received a new notice to leave her property from her landlord. She made a formal complaint to the council on 5 February 2019 about the Council’s decision to remove her from the housing register. She also complained about how the Council had not done anything further about her impending homelessness.
  14. Mrs X attended a housing advice (prevention interview) on 7 February 2019 with the Council. The Council considered the new notice to leave Mrs X had received. It advised Mrs X this notice was invalid and would write to her to confirm this.
  15. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint on 13 February 2019. It confirmed its view that Mrs X did not qualify for the housing register as she provided false information about D being a permanent member of her household. The Council said it told Mrs X the latest notice she received to leave her property was invalid and to contact the Council again should her situation change.
  16. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage 2. The Council provided its final response reiterating the decision at stage one. The response says the review panel considered the information Mrs X provided as part of her review but decided not to change the decision.

Analysis

Disqualification from the housing register

  1. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s banding and decided she did not qualify for the housing register. The Council offered Mrs X a right of review which she used. Mrs X provided information in support of her review including a letter from housing benefit and letters from D and N.
  2. I cannot say whether Mrs X should be reinstated onto the housing register, that is for the Council to decide. However, based on the information I have seen, the Council did not make any reference to the evidence Mrs X provided in support of her review or how the Council considered this. The review response only repeated the version of events outlined in the original decision. This is fault.
  3. It is important for the Council to ensure that its review responses include reference to what evidence it considered, especially if an applicant has submitted evidence, and how the Council considered such evidence.
  4. I do not consider this caused Mrs X injustice. The Council later explained it had considered the evidence she provided in support of the review, in its stage two complaint response. In any event, even if Mrs X’s review was successful, the Council confirmed Mrs X would not to qualify for the housing register due to rent arrears.

Homelessness assistance in June 2018 and February 2019

  1. The Council carried out an assessment of Mrs X’s case when she approached in June 2018 and produced a PHP which agreed actions the Council would take.
  2. Whilst I do not find fault in how the Council carried out the assessment, I can see no evidence that the Council reviewed Mrs X’s PHP. This is fault. The Council’s notes show from June 2018 until December 2018 it did not review the PHP and ended its prevention duty when Mrs X told the Council her section 21 notice had been considered invalid by the court. Whilst Mrs X says she did not receive the letter ending the prevention duty, the Council has provided a copy of this. Considering the evidence available to me I believe, on balance, the letter was sent to Mrs X. What happened to it from there I cannot say. I can also see no evidence the Council carried out a private sector lease referral for Mrs X, as agreed in the PHP. This is fault.
  3. I do not consider this caused injustice to Mrs X as the section 21 notice Mrs X received was considered invalid by the court, meaning she could remain in her current accommodation. On balance, Mrs X’s homeless situation was not worsened by the Council’s failure to review the PHP and carry out the private sector lease referral.
  4. I do not find fault in the way the Council carried out its assessment of Mrs X’s case when she approached it in February 2019 with a new section 21 notice. The Council advised her on the validity of the notice and confirmed the outcome in writing to Mrs X.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation on the basis there was fault by the Council in its handing of the review and PHP. However, this did not cause any significant injustice to Mrs X so no remedy is recommended.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

  1. I did not investigate the Council’s actions in relation to Mrs X’s current homelessness application following her assessment in early March 2019. Should Mrs X have any issues with this application she would need to raise these as a formal complaint with the Council in the first instance.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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