Summary: The Council’s failure to provide Ms X suitable temporary accommodation despite accepting in August 2021 that she needed to move urgently is fault. The Council is not at fault for how it decided Ms X did not qualify for Band A on its housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Ms X £1,925.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council:
• failed to provide suitable temporary accommodation despite accepting that she needed to move urgently in September 2021.
• wrongly assessed her application to the housing register in Band B, when her circumstances meet the criteria for Band A.
2. As a result, Ms X says she and her children remain in accommodation where she is in constant fear.

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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. We cannot question whether an organisation’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)
5. 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

6. I spoke to Ms X about the complaint and considered the information she provided.
7. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance.
8. I referred to the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies, a copy of which can be found on our website.
9. Ms 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

Temporary accommodation

10. Temporary accommodation is accommodation provided to homeless applicants as part of a council’s main homelessness duty.
11. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household.  This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty.  (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
12. Councils must assess whether accommodation is suitable for each household individually. Whether accommodation is suitable will depend on the relevant needs and circumstances of the homeless person and their household. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.4 & 17.9)

Housing allocations

13. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises housing applicants, and its procedures for allocating properties.  All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
14. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:
• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
15. Applicants have a right to request a review of a council’s decision about the priority band they have been awarded.

The Council’s scheme

16. The Council places applicants who qualify to join the housing register in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band C (lowest priority).
17. So far as is relevant to this complaint, the Council awards Band B to homeless applicants owed the main housing duty.
18. However, the Council may put homeless applicants in Band A if the Council considers they are in ‘severe need’.
19. This includes where:
• they have a critical medical or welfare need, including where there are critical safeguarding implications.
• they are especially vulnerable and the Council cannot provide them with suitable temporary accommodation.

What happened

20. The Council accepted the main housing duty to Ms X in 2019. Since then, she and her children have lived in temporary accommodation. She is in Band B on the housing register.
21. Ms X moved into her current temporary accommodation in July 2021.
22. In August, Ms X told the Council that the police had advised the father of her children there was a credible risk to his life. This risk extended to his children and Ms X.
23. The Council asked Ms X to provide evidence from the police about the risk and the areas where she would be safe. The police provided this information by the end of August.
24. The Council then put Ms X on its transfer list for alternative temporary accommodation.
25. Ms X asked the Council to review her priority on the housing register given the risk. The Council wrote to Ms X in November. It said that her circumstances did not meet the criteria for Band A because although at risk, Ms X’s case was not exceptional.
26. As of April 2022, Ms X remains in the property. However, in response to my enquiries the Council says it has identified a suitable property. If Ms X moves into it, this would be a tenancy, ending the Council’s main housing duty.

My findings

Suitable accommodation

27. The law says temporary accommodation must be suitable. The Council accepted in August 2021 that Ms X’s accommodation was unsuitable. The Council therefore had a legal duty to secure alternative accommodation for the family. It did not do so. This is fault.
28. In response to my enquiries, the Council says it accepts it is at fault for failing to provide suitable temporary accommodation in a timely manner. It says it usually expects to make a suitable offer within 12 weeks. It says its failure was “largely due to the issue of supply” but also Ms X’s “low income and area restrictions”.
29. The Council offered to apologise and pay Ms X £200.
30. It is welcome that the Council recognises its fault in this case. And the Ombudsman acknowledges that 12 weeks is a relatively short timescale given the significant barriers faced by councils, and especially London boroughs, to securing additional temporary accommodation. However, the duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation is immediate and continuing. Therefore, I find that Ms X has been in unsuitable temporary accommodation for at least 7 months.
31. Throughout that time, Ms X has lived in fear for the safety of her children. This is a significant injustice to Ms X.
32. I do not consider the Council’s offer of £200 to be a suitable remedy for the injustice caused. The Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies suggests a payment of between £150 and £350 for each month spent in unsuitable accommodation.
33. Given the continuing risk to Ms X and her children’s safety, I consider the Council should pay Ms X £275 for each month it has failed to meet its statutory duty to provide suitable accommodation. This is £1,925.

Housing register

34. Ms X says the Council has wrongly assessed her priority on the housing register. She says her circumstances meet the criteria for Band A.
35. The Ombudsman cannot question the merits of a decision made without fault. This means we cannot find fault with a banding decision just because the complainant disagrees with it. We look at the Council’s decision making process. We consider whether it took into account all the relevant information and followed its allocations policy.
36. The Council reviewed Ms X’s case in November 2021 at her request. It looked at whether her circumstances met the criteria in its allocations scheme to award Band A. It decided they did not.
37. There is no evidence the Council failed to consider any relevant information. The Council referred to the relevant parts of its allocations scheme. Therefore, there is no fault in how the Council decided Ms X did not qualify for Band A on the housing register.

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Agreed action

38. To remedy the injustice to Ms X from the faults I have identified the Council has agreed to:
• Apologise to Ms X in writing
• Pay Ms X £1,925
• Pay Ms X a further £275 a month from April 2022 until it either makes an offer of suitable temporary accommodation or ends its housing duty.
39. The Council should take this action within four weeks of my final decision.

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Final decision

40. I have completed my investigation. There is fault by the Council. The action I have recommended is a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman