Summary: The Council was at fault for not taking a homeless application from Mr X or providing him with help to try and secure accommodation. As a result Mr X did not receive any assistance to help relieve his homelessness. The Council has agreed remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council did not help him when he approached it for homelessness assistance. Mr X says the Council:
• Gave him wrong advice and did not provide the help it should have.
• Failed to respond to his emails asking for help and advice.
2. Mr X says he spent two months living on the street while trying to seek help from the Council.

Back to top

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. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. As part of this investigation I considered the complaint made and the responses from the Council. I considered the information Mr X provided along with the information from the Council. I sent a draft of this decision to Mr X and the Council and considered comments received in response.

Back to top

What I found

Law and guidance

6. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
7. A person is homeless if they have no accommodation in the UK or elsewhere which is available for their occupation and which that person has a legal right to occupy. A person is also homeless if they have accommodation but cannot secure entry to it. A person who has accommodation is to be treated as homeless where it would not be reasonable for them to continue to occupy that accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 175 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 6.4)
8. If a council has ‘reason to believe’ someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it must take a homelessness application and make inquiries. The threshold for taking an application is low. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular council department. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5) 
9. Where the local housing authority is satisfied that an applicant is homeless (rather than just threatened with homelessness) and eligible for assistance, it is subject to a duty (unless they make a local connection referral) to take reasonable steps to help the applicant secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months. This is called the relief duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
10. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household/applicant, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
11. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
12. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, has a priority need, and is not homeless intentionally the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
13. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are payments councils can award to people to help pay their rent. The Council’s DHP Policy says anyone entitled to housing benefit or a relevant award of universal credit is entitled to make a claim for DHP. It also says claimants must receive housing benefit or universal credit housing costs element in the benefit week a DHP is awarded.

What happened

14. On 22 February 2021 Mr X emailed the Council’s housing needs service seeking help. Mr X explained he was homeless and had lost his job after contracting Covid 19. He asked the Council if it could help him secure housing or emergency benefits.
15. The Council responded to Mr X and told him he could apply for a DHP. It did not tell Mr X about any homelessness assistance it could offer. Mr X sent the Council a further email on 23 February 2021 and told it he did not have anywhere to live and only received universal credit.
16. Mr X applied for a DHP but on 26 February 2021 the Council told him he was not eligible as he was not claiming housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit.
17. Between 26 February 2021 and 1 March 2021 Mr X corresponded with the Council’s benefits service following his failed DHP application. The Council told him to apply for the housing element of universal credit, but Mr X told the Council he had nowhere to stay or pay rent to.
18. On 11, 12 and 16 March 2021 Mr X emailed the Council’s housing and benefits teams and asked if his MP had contacted the homeless prevention service.
19. As Mr X did not receive a response he made a formal complaint to the Council on 26 March 2021. Mr X said he contacted the Council on 22 February 2021 and asked for help as he was homeless. He said the Council told him no other help was available except to make an application for DHP. Mr X said he later became aware the Council could have provided him with homelessness assistance. Mr X said he sought further information from the Council via emails but has not received a response. He said he was reluctant now to receive assistance from the Council as he has lost faith in the Council’s ability to help him.
20. In early April 2021 the Council’s housing needs team contacted Mr X and asked whether he had received contact from the homeless prevention service and sent him a link to complete a form. The Council also said it believed Mr X did not want to take his request for help forward.
21. Mr X sought help from a representative who responded to the Council. Mr X’s representative disputed this and said Mr X did ask for assistance, but was told by the Council no support was available to him. Mr X’s representative also asked the Council why it only now told him to complete a form for the homeless prevention service.
22. On 12 April 2021 the Council emailed Mr X and asked if he wanted to make a homeless application. The Council said he had to complete a referral form to make a homeless application.
23. On 13 April 2021 the Council provided its complaint response to Mr X. This partially upheld Mr X’s complaint and apologised for the Council’s errors in not advising Mr X when he first contacted it.
24. Mr X responded to the Council on 16 April 2021 and said the complaint response from the Council contained the following factual inaccuracies:
• Mr X told the Council he was homeless when he first contacted it and replied to the Council on the 23 February 2021. He also asked the Council for assistance.
• Mr X only contacted the benefits team as the Council told him he could apply for DHP.
25. On 21 April 2021 the Council sent an amended complaint response and recognised the errors in its first response.
26. On 26 April 2021 Mr X asked the Council to escalate his complaint to the next stage. Mr X asked the Council how it made factual errors in its first complaint response and suggested the officer who drafted the complaint did not consider the relevant information. Mr X said the Council provided him with wrong information when he asked for help, and he was then ignored. Mr X asked the Council to pay him compensation.
27. On 4 May 2021 the Council acknowledged Mr X’s complaint at stage two. On 7 June 2021 the Council provided its final response. The Council said:
• It fully upheld Mr X’s complaint and offered him £200 compensation made up of 100 for time and trouble and £100 for distress.
• Covid 19 caused delays in its service but still believed it was neglectful in the service it provided Mr X.
• It was communicating with its housing needs and prevention service to improve communication to ensure similar situations do not happen again.
• Mr X could still contact the Council’s homeless service if he wants to make an application or receive advice.

Analysis

28. When Mr X contacted the Council in February 2021 he explained he was homeless and did not have anywhere to stay. At this point the Council should have invited Mr X for an assessment so it could decide whether it had reason to believe he was homeless. Instead the Council told Mr X he could apply for DHP. This was fault.
29. If the Council had assessed Mr X it would likely have found reason to believe he was homeless, taken a homeless application and made inquiries about what duty it owed Mr X. Given Mr X did not have accommodation it is likely the Council would have decided he was homeless. The Council would have had to consider whether to offer Mr X interim accommodation while it carried out its inquiries into his circumstances.
30. The Council would also have had to take reasonable steps to help Mr X secure accommodation that would be available for at least six months under its relief duty. The Council also would have had to produce a personalised housing plan for Mr X setting out the steps he and the Council would take to help relieve his homelessness. The fact it did not do this is fault.
31. After Mr X complained to the Council, the Council told him in April 2021 he could make a homeless application by completing a referral form. This is also fault. An applicant does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular council department to make a homeless application. Given Mr X had already been in contact with the Council and told it he had no accommodation, the Council should have been in a position to accept a homeless application.
32. Mr X also complained the Council did not respond to his emails. The Council was at fault for not responding to Mr X after he contacted it several times in March 2021. This ultimately led to Mr X raising a formal complaint.
33. As I have found fault I need to consider what injustice Mr X suffered. I cannot say for certain whether Mr X would have been accommodated had the Council taken a homeless application from him and made inquiries to see whether it owed him a duty to house him. Also, I cannot say whether Mr X would have been accommodated if the Council had performed its responsibilities under the relief duty and taken reasonable steps to help him secure accommodation that would be available for at least six months. However, Mr X has suffered uncertainty and distress as he will not know for sure whether he would have been able to obtain accommodation if the Council had provided the help it should have.
34. During the time Mr X asked the Council for help he did not have accommodation and was sleeping on the street. Had the Council provided him with assistance this would have increased his chances of finding some kind of accommodation. At present Mr X says he is now reluctant to trust the Council’s services but is still homeless and trying to arrange nightly accommodation in shelters.
35. I acknowledge the Council has recognised its failings and upheld Mr X’s complaint. I welcome the fact it seeking to improve its communication between housing needs and homelessness prevention to ensure this situation does not reoccur. It has also offered Mr X £200 in recognition of the distress caused and time and trouble he experienced. However, I do not consider this goes far enough to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X.

Back to top

Agreed action

36. Within one month of my final decision, the Council agreed to carry out the following and provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has done so:
• Apologise to Mr X for the faults identified in this statement.
• Pay Mr X £650 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused by not providing homelessness assistance and the resulting time and trouble he spend pursuing this. In coming to this figure I have considered the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies as well as other cases where Council’s delayed in providing homelessness assistance. I also considered the fact Mr X did not have any accommodation when he asked for help.
• Contact Mr X to carry out an assessment of his needs and take a homeless application from him to see what duties the Council owes him. I recognise Mr X says he is reluctant to trust the Council, however the Council should still attempt to contact him to provide help.
• Remind staff and update any internal policy or procedure to reflect that a person does not need to complete a referral form to make a homeless application.

Back to top

Final decision

37. I have completed my investigation and found there was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Mr X. The Council has agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman