Summary: The Ombudsman found fault by the Council on Miss H’s complaint of it failing to place her and her young son in suitable temporary accommodation when they were homeless. The Council accepts it: missed appointments; failed to act to increase ventilation; failed to correctly identify and promptly resolve an issue with her accommodation; failed to consider alternative options sooner. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss H complains the Council failed to place her and her 2-year-old son in suitable temporary accommodation; as a result, the health of both suffered and her personal belongings were damaged because of the poor condition of the flat.

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What I have investigated

2. The paragraph at the end of this decision explains why I have not investigated any complaint Miss H has against the Council before April 2020. Reference to actions before this date are to put events in to perspective.
3. It also explains why I have not investigated any complaint she has about damage to her possessions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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)
7. 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)

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The Council’s housing allocation scheme (2017)

8. When discharging its homelessness duty in to private rented accommodation, the accommodation should meet the suitability criteria set out in the Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2012 subject to the availability and affordability of accommodation.
9. The room entitlement means the Council allows one bedroom for a qualifying adult and one bedroom for any two children aged under 10 years.

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Homelessness guidance for local authorities

10. Housing authorities (the Council) are required to secure accommodation is available for an applicant (and household) if they have reason to believe the applicant may: be homeless; be eligible for assistance; and have a priority need. This is the interim duty to accommodate. (section 188(1) Housing Act 1996)
11. All accommodation provided under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, must be suitable for the applicant and their household (section 206 (1) Housing Act 1996). There is no right of review against the Council’s decision about the suitability of the interim accommodation.
12. Consideration of the suitability of the accommodation includes: space and arrangement; the relevant needs, requirements and circumstances of the applicant and household; its location; particular medical and/or physical needs; social considerations. Its suitability needs to be kept under review. (paragraphs 17.1 to 17.10)

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How I considered this complaint

13. I considered all the information Miss H sent, the notes I made of our telephone conversation, and the Council’s response to my enquiries, a copy of which I sent her. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Miss H and the Council. I considered their responses.

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What I found

14. Miss H became homeless after living at her partner’s house when his parents asked her to leave when she was seven months pregnant. The Council accepted her as homeless in December 2018 and arranged temporary accommodation for her.
15. In April 2019, it also placed her on the housing register. Miss H complains the Council failed to place her and her young son in suitable temporary accommodation.
16. The Council explained since accepting the homeless duty, it provided her with the following temporary accommodation:

• Property 1: A one bedroom flat from September 2019 to January 2021;
• Property 2: A two-bedroom flat from January 2021 to May 2021;
• Property 3: A two-bedroom flat from May to September 2021; and
• Property 4: Her current accommodation.

17. I consider Miss H’s complaints about each property:

Property 1: (September 2019 to January 2021)

18. Miss H says this flat suffered from mould which she believed was because of old ill-fitting windows. Following her reports of mould, workmen mould washed her walls. She says the Council told her the problem was condensation because of drying wet washing. She believes the Council should have done more to solve the problem.

2019:

19. November: Miss H provided a copy of a screen shot of a report to the Council about her windows which says they, ‘drip with condensation daily and it looks as if mould or something is appearing at the top.’

2020:

20. October: When she formally complained, the Council told her ventilation was important and it would adjust the windows to make it easier for her to open and close them. It agreed there were missed appointments and it had done mould washes but not looked properly at what it could do to increase ventilation in the flat to solve the mould problem. It also referred to previous complaints she made about these issues both when she moved in and in June 2020.
21. November: The Council apologised to her for its slow investigation of her complaint at stage 2.
22. December: After further reports about her windows, mould and condensation, the Council told her Housing Options may be better placed to help her and her son. It would send a surveyor out to inspect the cause of the mould.

2021:

23. January: The Council wrote to her and explained it was considering moving her, providing a dehumidifier, doing mould washes, and repairing the communal air ventilation. By the middle of the month, Miss H was due to sign a new tenancy agreement. The Council offered her £250 under stage 2 of its complaints procedure. It accepted there was delay, poor standard of customer care, and a failure to progress earlier jobs raised, along with several missed appointments. It acknowledged the inconvenience caused and her concerns about the impact the condition of the flat might have on her young son.
24. The Council pointed out the damp specialist’s findings did not conclude the property suffered from penetrating damp. It did suffer from a build up of moisture which caused excessive condensation and mould, which is why it offered a dehumidifier. It also confirmed it is now processing the payment which it will offset against any rent arrears she may have.
25. In response to my draft decision, the Council pointed out resolving these repairs was complex, particularly trying to identify their root cause and corrective action needed. There were differences of opinions between parties involved and Covid-19 restrictions had an impact. In addition, around this time its own repairs team was changing to a Hybrid Repairs Service where some functions were kept by the Council and others allocated to contractors to deliver.

Analysis

26. I found fault on this complaint and in doing so, took the following in to account:
1. I am satisfied the Council placed Miss H in accommodation which became unsuitable. This is because evidence shows Miss H complaining about damp, mould, and condensation from when she moved in and action taken by the Council failing to address their causes. The Council accepted during the complaints procedure the accommodation had problems with windows opening, ventilation, and a broken internal air recycling system. It also accepted it needed to have considered alternative options earlier than it did. The Council confirmed it was slow to act carrying out necessary works. I consider the failure to address these issues, which could have helped the proper ventilation of her flat, amounts to fault.
2. I am satisfied the fault caused her an injustice. It caused her distress in the form of uncertainty as she does not know whether the problems she experienced in the flat would have reduced but for the fault. She also lost the opportunity to live in damp and mould free accommodation. I took account of the injustice she suffered from April 2020 until she moved.
3. In reaching this conclusion, I also took account of what the Council said about the damp specialist’s findings. While it was not suffering from penetrating damp, it was suffering from damp through condensation which in turn caused mould. The problem with lack of proper ventilation likely contributed to the problem.

Property 2: (January 2021 to May 2021)

27. Miss H signed the tenancy agreement for this property in January and reported problems with it. I have seen an email from her to the Council saying the bathroom window did not open. Although Miss H claimed it was one bedroom, the Council provided evidence from a surveyor confirming it is a two-bedroom property.
28. In response to my enquiries, the Council confirmed it stopped all physical accommodation inspections because of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions during her stay in it.
29. The Council transferred her following a request she made in April for a suitability review of the property. She was unhappy with the stairs to her second floor flat as there was no lift. She worried about access when she would have a baby later that year and claimed the stairs caused pain in her legs.
30. The following month a housing medical advisor considered there were no medical conditions preventing her from using the stairs or any other problem with the property. I have seen a copy of this advice. She had no medical priority.
31. The Council moved her on compassionate grounds because she was continually unhappy with the accommodation. It confirmed it received no reports of mould or damp from her while in this property.

Analysis

32. I found no fault on this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of her reporting problems with ventilation, mould, or damp to the Council.
33. While she was unhappy with the fact her second floor flat had no lift, which concerned her for when her baby arrived, when she asked the Council to review its decision, it agreed to move her. It moved her the following month. In addition, I note it got advice from an independent medical advisor who concluded there was no medical reason preventing her from using the stairs.

Property 3: (May 2021 to September 2021)

34. Miss H complains this property also suffered from mould and despite reporting it, the Council failed to act. This is a privately rented flat in a Council owned block.
35. I asked the Council about all reports Miss H made about this property. The evidence sent does not show reports about mould but problems with flooding. This was from a blocked drain stack pipe which caused some flooding in her kitchen.
36. In July, Miss H told the Council about her concerns of smells coming from the drains into her flat. An internal email from a Council officer confirmed a blockage within the flat’s toilet and sink was cleared. The landlord’s contractors later visited and said the issue was with the stack. The landlord also confirmed he believed the drains needed rodding from the ground floor as the smell from the sink was an ongoing problem. He thought the problem was the stack pipe.
37. In August, Miss H’s flat flooded. She called a private plumber to repair the problem. A couple of days later, it flooded again, worse than before. She says the Council sent a contractor who drained all the pipes. Since then, the flat flooded a further three times.
38. Emails with the landlord the same month show a neighbour also had the same problem as Miss H from their kitchen sink. An internal email from an officer noted Miss H reporting a problem with waste backing up in to her kitchen sink earlier that day. An email reported a contractor attempted to clear the blockage the previous night but was unable to do so and was now waiting for the drainage contractor. A previous visit recommended descaling the drains, and a survey found a bee’s nest in the drainage system. Miss H says she spent 3 days with a flooded kitchen which caused property damage.
39. In September, the Council wrote to Miss H advising her its repairs team and the landlord worked together to get the repairs finished. It was waiting for the landlord’s insurer to confirm what work needs completing and how long it will take. It noted discussing moving her to another property and offered her an out of borough property which she was unhappy with. It also offered to explore whether the private rented sector was an affordable option for her. An internal email noted the original reports of smells was from a communal soil stack which backed in to Miss H’s flat for several days during which time officers struggled to correctly diagnose and resolve the problem.
40. The Council provided information about the problem with the stack. It explained the landlord was very proactive in trying to work with it to identify the cause of the flooding and resolving it. The flooding affected the whole block including some of its social housing tenants. Extensive investigative work was needed to establish the cause of the flooding in Miss H’s flat because this involved a large block of flats. It also pointed out it made several offers of alternative accommodation to Miss H but, she wanted to remain in her preferred areas. In August, it offered her £40 in vouchers to cover the cost of new towels.

Analysis

41. On balance, I found no fault on this complaint. I am satisfied the Council liaised with the landlord at establishing the source of the problem Miss H, and others, were experiencing.

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Agreed action

42. I considered our guidance on remedies. I also took account of the offer the Council made in January 2021 of £250 which it is only now actioning.
43. The Council agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of the final decision on this complaint:
1. Send Miss H a written apology for its failures to: keep appointments; act to increase ventilation; consider alternative options; progress earlier jobs.
2. Review why: appointments were missed; it was slow to resolve the problem of lack of ventilation in her accommodation; it did not consider alternative options sooner than it did; earlier jobs raised were slow to be completed.
3. Pay £1,000 to Miss H for the injustice the identified fault caused.

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Final decision

44. I found fault on Miss H’s complaint against the Council. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

45. I did not investigate any complaint Miss H had about:
1. the Council’s actions before April 2020. This is because the law says we cannot investigate late complaints. She complained to us in April 2021 and normally we would only investigate actions that took place within the 12 months up to that date unless there are good reasons not to do so; and
2. damage caused to her possessions. This is because it is for the courts, and not us, to decide such claims.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman