Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s failure to resolve disrepair problems with her temporary accommodation year, its decision to end its homelessness duty and failure to take account of her disability and vulnerability. There was fault in the Council’s handling, some of which has caused Miss X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X. It will also provide further training and guidance to relevant staff on the importance of offering and making reasonable adjustments.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Miss X, complains about the Council’s failure to resolve long-term disrepair problems and other issues which have affected her temporary accommodation (TA) over the past year. Miss X also complains about the Council’s decision to end its homelessness duty in her case after she refused an offer of social housing which she felt was unsuitable. In addition, Miss X says the Council’s communications with her have been poor and have not taken sufficient account of her disability and mental health problems in its dealings with her. Miss X says this has caused her to become more depressed and anxious. She wants the Council to provide suitable housing that meets her needs or make repairs to resolve the issues she experiences in her current TA.

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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 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(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have spoken to Miss X and considered the information she has provided to support her complaint.
5. I have considered the information the Council has provided in response to my enquiries. I have also considered the guidance in our recent focus report – Equal Access – Getting it right for people with disabilities
6. Miss X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant guidance and legislation

Reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities

7. The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and applies to any body which carries out a public function. It aims to make sure that a disabled person can use a service as close as it is reasonably possible to get to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
8. Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them.
9. The duty is ‘anticipatory’. This means service providers cannot wait until a disabled person wants to use their services, but must think in advance about what disabled people with a range of impairments might reasonably need.

Public sector equality duty

10. The Public Sector Equality Duty requires all local authorities (and bodies acting on their behalf) to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

11. The broad purpose of the public sector equality duty is to consider equality and good relations into the day-to-day business and decision making of public authorities. It requires equality considerations to be reflected into the design of policies and the delivery of services, including internal policies, and for these issues to be kept under review.

Duties to the homeless and suitability of temporary accommodation

12. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless it will owe them the main homelessness duty. Generally, the Council fulfils this duty by arranging temporary accommodation until it makes a suitable offer of social housing or private rented accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
13. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
14. Accommodation is not suitable if it falls below certain minimum standards. The Council must have regard to the standards set in the Housing Act 2004. The Homelessness Code of Guidance recommends that any accommodation should, as a minimum, be free of category 1 hazards under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). Councils should explicitly consider a buildings condition and risks to the health and safety of occupiers.
15. The Court of Appeal held it is for the council to determine what is suitable; it can only be challenged where it is clearly inadequate; ‘Suitability [is] to a Wednesbury minimum level of suitability in the nature, location and standard of condition of the accommodation, having regard to the circumstances of the applicant and his or her resident family, including the duration of the likely occupation of it’. (C v Mid-Bedfordshire District Council [2004] EWCA Civ 925 [2005] HLR 1, CA)

What happened

16. This chronology includes key events and does not cover everything that has happened.
17. In April 2020, Miss X approached the Council as she had been asked to leave her parents’ house. She moved in with her aunt following this.
18. In late May 2020, Miss X contacted the Council again to advise it her aunt had asked her to move out. The Council helped Miss X complete a homelessness application. The Council recorded that Miss X had physical and mental health conditions, including a visual impairment. Miss X was also a former domestic abuse victim and former victim of sexual abuse. The Council recorded that Miss X’s eyesight was very bad and she struggled despite wearing glasses.
19. Miss X contacted the Council again at the end of June 2020 to advise she had received a recent diagnosis for another chronic health condition and has started to self-harm again because she was struggling with this diagnosis. The Council unsuccessfully attempted to find sheltered housing for Miss X during July.
20. On 13 August 2020, Miss X moved into the self-contained temporary accommodation the Council had offered. There were some initial issues with the energy supply to the property, which the Council resolved within 24 hours of Miss X moving in.
21. In April 2021, Miss X raised concerns with the Council about ants, mould and damp in the property. The Council advised Miss X the damp confined to her bathroom did not make the temporary accommodation unsuitable and that it would arrange for ant treatment.
22. The Council wrote to Miss X in June 2021 to confirm its discussions with her about the state of her temporary accommodation and asked her to get in touch if she still had problems. Miss X brought her complaint to us because she could not read the Council’s response.
23. Since then, the Council offered and Miss X accepted a social housing property in late June 2021. Miss X subsequently surrendered the tenancy to this property because she felt it was unsuitable for her needs.
24. The Council continued to bid for properties on Miss X’s behalf throughout the rest of 2021. In mid-December 2021, Miss X accepted another social housing property, where she still lives.

Was there fault causing injustice?

25. In response to our enquiries, the Council has confirmed that it acted with fault when Miss X surrendered her tenancy in June 2021. The Council says it was only at this point that it was directed to medical evidence which highlighted Miss X’s true housing needs. The Council also explained it had erroneously started the process of a suitability review of Miss X’s temporary accommodation, when she had in fact lost the right to remain in that property.
26. I agree with the Council that this fault did not cause significant injustice to Miss X, given she was allowed to remain in the temporary accommodation until alternative suitable housing was identified. The Council might however find a review of handling helpful to identify areas for improvement from this case.
27. I have not found evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of Miss X’s concerns about her temporary accommodation. It appears to have sought to resolve any repair issues swiftly. While I appreciate Miss X was unhappy with her temporary accommodation, there seems to be little evidence that the repair issues were so significant that they rendered the property unsuitable or uninhabitable.
28. I commend the Council for its detailed and thorough response to my enquiries. However, I am concerned that it appears to have missed a key point in this case. While I accept the Council needs clear medical evidence to formally assess an individual’s housing priority banding, it does not require such evidence to assist someone with accessing its services.
29. The Council was at fault in this case for not considering nor asking Miss X what reasonable adjustments it might need to make to enable her to access its housing services. Miss X told it she had significant issues with her eyesight from the outset. The Council failed to probe this further to find out what Miss X needed to help her engage with its service for over 12 months. This caused unnecessary frustration, inconvenience and distress to Miss X at what was already a very distressing time. Miss X was a very vulnerable young adult when she first approached the Council and needed its help in a way that best met her needs.
30. Some of the issues and difficulties the Council appeared to have with engaging Miss X during this time were caused by not providing information to her in an accessible format. I was concerned to see that even after the Council agreed to provide correspondence to Miss X in large print, it continued on occasion not to do this. This too will have caused avoidable frustration and distress to Miss X.

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Agreed action

31. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults above, within one month of my final decision, the Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and make a payment of £200.
32. Within three months of my final decision, the Council will also:

• provide training to all relevant staff about the Council’s public sector equality duty and the importance of asking about, and making, reasonable adjustments;
• produce written guidance for all relevant staff on reasonable adjustments, including how to seek information and examples of adjustments that can be made;
• review and amend existing staff procedures and application forms to ensure questions about reasonable adjustments are imbedded in the process when a person approaches the Council as homeless or in need of housing. Revised procedures should also include methods for ensuring any reasonable adjustments are clearly recorded and consistently provided.

33. The Council should provide evidence when it has completed the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation and found fault with the Council. This fault has caused Miss X injustice for which I have recommended the Council takes action to remedy. The Council has also agreed to take action to improve its services.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman