Summary: there was some fault in the way the Council handled Ms X’s move from a bed and breakfast hotel to a hostel. The Council has already apologised to Ms X for its poor communication with her on the day of the move and that provides a suitable remedy. The Council took too long to send Ms X a Personal Housing Plan. However this fault did not cause a delay in dealing with her application for assistance under the Rent Deposit Scheme.

The complaint

1. Ms X and her children are homeless. She complains that the Council:
1. badly handled a move from a bed and breakfast hotel (Hotel A) to a hostel in early November 2018;
2. deliberately delayed assistance under its Rent Deposit Scheme to help her secure private rented accommodation in the Bournemouth area. She says she missed out on potential properties because of the delay and incurred the expense of paying for hotel accommodation for six months.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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

4. I have spoken to Ms X and considered all the information she sent me.
5. I have considered the Council’s response to my enquiries and documents from its housing case records.
6. I have written to Ms X and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments.

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What I found

The background to this complaint

7. Ms X and her two children have been homeless since they lost rented accommodation in London in late 2015. In late 2015 a London borough council decided Ms X was intentionally homeless because of rent arrears. Ms X challenged this decision but that Council upheld it on review in 2016.
8. In April 2017 the Children’s Services team of the London council secured accommodation for Ms X and her children in a flat in the Bournemouth area. This was intended to be short-term temporary accommodation to give Ms X time to make alternative arrangements. This assistance was provided under the Council’s duty to assist “children in need” in section 17 Children Act 1989.
9. The London Council later gave Ms X notice to quit the flat. As she did not leave, it then started legal action to evict her. She had to move out of the flat by 10 October 2018.
10. In late August 2018 Ms X applied to Bournemouth Council for assistance because had been served with a notice to quit and was threatened with homelessness.
11. On 28 August 2018 Bournemouth Council notified Ms X it owed her the prevention duty. It later accepted a duty to arrange interim accommodation for her and the children from 10 October 2018.
12. The Council arranged for Ms X and her children to stay in a bed and breakfast hotel with shared facilities in its area from 10 October 2018.
13. The Council accepted it owed Ms X the relief duty from 11 October 2018 because she was now homeless.
14. This brief summary is included to set out the background to this complaint. This investigation is not examining the actions of the London borough council: the Ombudsman has investigated separate complaints from Ms X about that Council.

Complaint a)

The relevant legal duties

15. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. An applicant who has dependent children is in priority need.
16. The Homelessness Code of Guidance says councils should avoid using bed and breakfast accommodation.  It should only be used as a last resort in an emergency and then for the shortest time possible.  
17. Bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation can only be used for households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks.  B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned by the Council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. 
18. Councils must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. The relief duty will end if the applicant withdraws the application. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

What happened

19. The Council arranged emergency accommodation in a bed and breakfast hotel, which I shall call Hotel A, for Ms X and her two children from 10 October 2018. She shared a room with her teenage son and young baby. They had their own shower but shared kitchen facilities with other residents.
20. On 31 October 2018 Officer A, who works in the resettlement team, told Ms X she would move to Hostel B on 2 November. This is a Council owned hostel used to accommodate homeless families.
21. According to Officer A’s case notes, Ms X said she was not willing to move to Hostel B. The officer told her there would be a bath there which would make it easier for Ms X to bathe her baby. It was also a hostel for families. Ms X expressed dissatisfaction. She considered the Council should have found her self-contained temporary accommodation. She asked if she could stay in Hotel A. Officer A explained the law does not allow councils to accommodate families in B&B accommodation with shared facilities for more than six weeks. She tried to give Ms X the address for Hostel B but Ms X refused to take the details. According to the case notes, Ms X ended the call without saying whether she was willing to move to hostel B.
22. Later on the same day, a Council officer sent an email to Ms X to confirm that her room booking at Hotel A would be cancelled at 10:00 on 2 November 2018. She gave details of the address for Hostel B and told her to get there by 12:30pm to sign the licence agreement. An officer sent Ms X a letter to confirm the offer of interim accommodation at Hostel B. The letter explained that if she refused this offer, the Council’s duty to arrange interim accommodation would end.
23. Ms X visited the Hostel B on 2 November but did not stay to sign the licence agreement. In the late afternoon on 2 November, she told the Council she would accept the offer. By then it was too late to sign the agreement so the Council agreed Ms X could stay at Hotel A over the weekend and sign the agreement on Monday 5 November.
24. On the morning of 5 November 2018 Ms X contacted the Council to find out what time she should get to Hostel B. A resettlement officer, Officer A, called her just after 3:00pm to say it was going to place her in a different Council owned hostel for homeless families – Hostel C. She did not receive a letter confirming the new offer. Officer A asked Ms X to book a taxi to take her to Hostel C before 4:00pm to sign the licence agreement. Ms X said she could not get there by then because she was feeding her baby.
25. Just before 4:00pm Ms X called the Council to say she wished to move to Hostel B instead. The officer who spoke to Ms X explained there were two rooms available at Hostel C which would allow her teenage son to have a separate room. He also told Ms X the proprietor of Hotel A would not let her stay in the B&B any longer.
26. Ms X arrived by taxi at Hostel C around 4:30pm. According to Officer A’s notes, Ms X shouted at her on arrival and refused to let her help her out of the taxi. Ms X was speaking to someone on her mobile phone and would not end the call to speak to Officer A. Ms X says Officer A was rude and unprofessional.
27. Ms X considered the Hostel C was too far from the rail station and other amenities. Officer A left Ms X’s bag in the office while she took her upstairs to show her the rooms. Officer A said Ms X continued her phone call and refused to engage with her and complete the check-in procedure. Officer A later carried Ms X’s bag upstairs. Ms X had left some belongings at Hotel A.
28. Officer A placed a note with the emergency out of hours number on the bed in Ms X’s room in case she left Hostel C. She did not complete the licence agreement and other paperwork. Officer A recorded in the case notes that she left the hostel key on Ms X’s bed with the note. Ms X disputes Officer A’s account. She says Officer A did not leave a key. She called the Council after Officer A left to say she wished to make a complaint about her.
29. Ms X decided not to stay in Hostel C. She returned to Hotel A to collect the rest of her belongings and found alternative hotel accommodation in Bournemouth.
30. On 6 November Ms X sent an email to the Council headed “formal complaint”. She said she wished to complain about Officer A’s conduct on 5 November. She said:
• Officer A was rude and behaved unprofessionally;
• Officer A had initially refused to show her the rooms;
• Officer A kept telling her she needed to leave so she could pick up her child;
• Officer A damaged Ms X’s bag by dragging it up the stairs;
• Officer A left the number for the out of hours service on her bed;
• Officer A did not give her a key to the room.

Ms X concluded by saying she had no option but to make a formal complaint and “cease any application for assistance with Bournemouth”.

31. On 6 November 2018 the Council notified Ms X it had ended its interim accommodation duty because she had refused a suitable offer of accommodation. It said it had considered Ms X’s reason for refusing the offer. It said Hostel C was next to a bus stop which had a regular service to all areas of Bournemouth, including the rail station. It was approximately 15 minutes by car or bus to the nearest rail station and within a reasonable walking distance of local amenities.
32. On the same day the Housing Options Officer notified Ms X in a separate letter that the relief duty had ended because she had withdrawn her application. The letter explained Ms X’s right to request a review if she disagreed with the decision to end the relief duty. The letter was sent to Ms X’s email address.
33. The Council investigated Ms X’s complaint. In the Stage Two response, the manager of the resettlement team accepted the hostel booking-in process had been rushed on 5 November and the relevant paperwork was not completed. Ms X was not informed until just after 3:00pm that she had to be at Hostel C by 4:00pm. The manager said there had been a lack of clear planning and communication on the day and she had not been told about the change of hostel. He apologised for the way the move was handled. He said the service had since reviewed its procedures.
34. The manager did not uphold the other parts of the complaint. He found no evidence to substantiate Ms X’s claim that Officer A had damaged her bag. Officer A said she had carried the bag upstairs to Ms X’s room and did not drag it on the stairs. Officer A said she had left a key on Ms X’s bed with a note for the emergency out of hours number. She recorded that in the case notes she made on 6 November.

Analysis

35. Ms X was given advance notice that she had to leave Hotel A on 5 November 2018. She had already packed her belongings in readiness for the move.
36. The Council accepts there was a breakdown in communication with Ms X on the day of the move. She was not contacted until the afternoon so she was given very short notice to get to Hostel C by 4:00pm to sign the licence agreement and collect keys. The process was rushed because Officer A needed to finish work at a fixed time. Ms X was also upset to find out on the day that the Council had changed the booking from Hostel B to Hostel C. The poor communication with Ms X on 5 November was fault.
37. The Council has already apologised to Ms X for this fault and reviewed its procedures for handling hostel bookings. I consider this provides a satisfactory remedy for the frustration Ms X suffered. I have taken into account that Ms X knew she would have to leave the B&B on 5 November. She had previously expressed reservations about moving to Hostel B when she was offered that accommodation the previous week. The Council considered Hostel C was more suited to Ms X’s needs because her teenage son could have his own room. Ms X had previously raised concerns about sharing a room with her teenage son in the B&B hotel. Hostel C was on a bus route to the railway station. Although the move on the day was rushed and communication should have been better, she did have access to rooms in the hostel that day. She chose not to stay there and withdraw her homelessness application.
38. There is insufficient evidence for me to uphold Ms X’s complaint that Officer A damaged her bag when she carried it to the room at Hostel C. Officer A denied mishandling the bag and causing any damage. Ms X sent the manager photographs showing the damaged bag. But these do not prove when or how the damage occurred. The manager who investigated Ms X’s complaint says there was no CCTV evidence available to show what had happened.
39. It was not fault for Officer A to leave a note with the out of hours emergency number on Ms X’s bed as a precaution in case she decided to leave the hostel and contact the out of hours service.
40. Ms X and Officer A have given conflicting accounts about whether Officer A left a key for the hostel room. Officer A is adamant that she placed the key on the bed before she left. Ms X says this did not happen. In the event, Ms X decided to leave the hostel on the evening of 6 November, and find alternative accommodation, so she did not need a key. For this reason, it is not necessary to make a finding about what happened because Ms X did not suffer any injustice.

Complaint b)

The Council’s Rent Deposit Scheme

41. The Council’s Rent Deposit Scheme provides an interest-free loan to help someone who is homeless, and has no other available funds, to pay a tenancy deposit or rent in advance for private rented accommodation. Before paying the loan, the Council needs to see:
• Proof of identity (such as a passport, driving licence or birth certificate);
• Building society, bank or post office statements from the last three months for all accounts;
• Proof that the person has a local connection to Bournemouth;
• A national insurance number;
• Proof of other income not shown on the bank statements.
42. The Housing Options Officer must also be satisfied that the rent is affordable for the applicant by checking his or her income and expenditure. They must also check the landlord or letting agent is willing to take part in the scheme because the Council pays the rent deposit direct to them.

What happened

43. Ms X and her family stayed in one room in a hotel in Bournemouth from 5 November 2018. She claimed Housing Benefit and paid the rest of the charges from her income.
44. Ms X says the Council deliberately delayed in providing her with assistance under its Rent Deposit Scheme. She says this caused her to miss opportunities to secure private rented accommodation in the Bournemouth area.
45. In January 2019 Ms X contacted the Council to ask for help through the Rent Deposit Scheme. Officer A informed Ms X she would need to see a duty officer first to make a new application for homelessness assistance. Her previous application had been closed on 6 November 2018.
46. Ms X was interviewed by a Housing Options Officer on 22 February 2019.
47. On 26 February 2019 Officer A wrote to Ms X. She confirmed the Council owed her the relief duty because she was homeless. She told her the Council would provide assistance through the rent deposit scheme for a three bedroom property. She did not send Ms X a Personal Housing Plan (PHP) with this letter. She asked Ms X to:
• provide bank statements for all her accounts for the past six months;
• complete a financial statement;
• provide evidence of her National Insurance number.

She explained the Council needed this information in order to assess the affordability of the rent. Officer A said the application could not proceed further until Ms X submitted this evidence.

48. On 28 February Ms X sent an email to Officer A. She said her circumstances and income had not changed since the last application in August 2018. She had already submitted bank statements in September 2018. She did not provide the other information requested.
49. Officer A did not reply so Ms X sent a further email on 9 April. Officer A apologised for the delay. She confirmed Ms X should provide up to date bank statements and complete the income and expenditure form before she could be approved for the Rent Deposit Scheme.
50. On 16 April Officer A completed a PHP and sent it to Ms X. The PHP included the housing assessment. It said the maximum Local Housing Allowance was £842.62 per month for a three bedroom property. It said Ms X had to take the following steps:
• Supply her National Insurance Number;
• Complete the financial statement (income and expenditure);
• Supply original paper bank statements for the past three months for three specified bank accounts and one credit card account by 26 April;
• Supply proof of the benefits she received;
• Start searching for suitable private rented accommodation
51. On 16 April Ms X sent Officer A an email with her National Insurance number and screenshots of bank statements for one account for three months from December 2018 to March 2019. She did not return the completed financial statement.
52. On 17 April Officer A informed Ms X that for compliance and audit purposes she could not accept photographs of the bank statements. She asked her to submit hard copies by 26 April.
53. Ms X responded that the other bank accounts listed in the PHP were dormant. She said she did not even remember she had opened them and would not bring in any statements for these accounts. She believed Officer A was refusing to accept scanned documents as a deliberate tactic to delay matters and inconvenience her. She also asked why Officer A did not send the PHP until 16 April. She made a complaint about Officer A on the same day.
54. On 18 April Ms X approached a London borough council for homelessness assistance. On 23 April 2019 she asked the Council to close her homelessness application. Three days later the Council sent Ms X a letter confirming it had ended the relief duty because she had withdrawn her homelessness application.
55. On 24 May a senior officer replied to Ms X’s complaint. She accepted there had been an unjustified delay in sending the PHP to Ms X. She apologised and partly upheld the complaint for this reason. She did not uphold Ms X’s complaint that Officer A had deliberately delayed processing the application for assistance under the Rent Deposit Scheme.

My analysis

56. The Council accepts it took too long to prepare the PHP and send it to Ms X following her housing assessment on 22 February 2019. That was fault. The PHP included important information about the Local Housing Allowance and set out the steps the Council and Ms X should take to help find accommodation.
57. Officer A was slow to reply to Ms X’s email of 28 February. That too was fault.
58. There was an inconsistency in Officer A’s communications with Ms X about the evidence she needed to provide. On 26 February 2019 Officer A asked Ms X to provide bank statements for the past six months. But when she sent the PHP to Ms X on 16 April 2019, she asked for three months’ bank statements. The correct requirement, according to the Council’s published information on the rent deposit scheme, is three months.
59. However, I also considered the effect of Ms X’s actions. The Council’s credit check revealed Ms X had other undisclosed bank accounts. Ms X did not fully co-operate by providing all the information Officer A had requested. She refused to provide statements for these accounts because she said they were dormant. She did not complete and return the financial statement form. Although Ms X said her income had not changed since September 2018, the Council needed to verify this by checking the statements for all the accounts. I do not consider it was fault to ask Ms X for hard copy bank statements rather than scanned documents. The Council was making Ms X a loan and it was entitled to ask to see original documents.
60. For these reasons, I have found that Ms X’s actions contributed to the delay in approving her request for assistance under the Rent Deposit Scheme. Until she submitted all the required evidence, the Council could not approve her application and pay a deposit or rent in advance for any properties.
61. The faults I identified did not cause Ms X to miss opportunities to secure private rented accommodation in the Bournemouth area.

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Final decision

62. I have completed the investigation and made the following findings:

Complaint a)

63. There was fault which caused some injustice to Ms X for which the Council has already provided a satisfactory remedy.

Complaint b)

64. The Council was at fault but this did not cause any injustice to Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman