Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to provide her with suitable accommodation. We have not found the Council to be at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s decision to evict her from temporary accommodation and failure to provide suitable accommodation.
2. She says this has caused considerable distress and affected her physical health and general well-being

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What I have investigated

3. Part of Miss X’s complaint relates to events that took place between 2020 and when the Council ended its homeless duty towards her in February 2021. I am satisfied Miss X could have complained at the time and for this reason this part of the complaint is late. My investigation has focussed on the Council’s recent decision to evict her from temporary accommodation in March 2022.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I spoke to Miss X and considered the information provided by her and the Council.
8. Both Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision and I considered comments received before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness

9. 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.
10. 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)
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)

What happened

12. Miss X has been living in temporary accommodation arranged by the Council since April 2018.
13. In May 2020 the Council advised Miss X that she did not qualify for housing assistance, and she would be required to vacate her temporary accommodation. The Council did not take action about this straight away because of Covid-19 restrictions in place at that time. Between June 2021 and November 2021, the Council offered support to Miss X to find alternative accommodation in the private sector. Miss X was unable to fully participate in this process because she was self-isolating. The Council explained it did not owe her a housing duty.
14. In March 2022, the Council issued Miss X with notice to quit her temporary accommodation. Miss X says she has been unable to contact the Council to contest this and so brought her complaint to the Ombudsman. Miss X told the Council about her recent medical diagnosis and felt this should change the Council’s position.

The Council’s response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries

• Miss X has been provided with temporary accommodation for four years longer than she should have been.
• Miss X did not engage with the Council’s attempts to support her to find alternative accommodation in 2021.
• It accepted that it had not responded to Miss X’s emails sent in March 2022 because the case officer was on leave at the time.
• Miss X’s health conditions could be reconsidered if she were to submit a new homelessness application.

15. The Council accepted a new homelessness application from Miss X in April 2022. She has been provided with temporary accommodation while her application is assessed.

Analysis

16. The Council has explained the reasons why it did not owe Miss X a homeless duty and what support it offered to assist Miss to find alternative accommodation. It has provided Miss X with temporary accommodation in the meantime. While I understand Miss has been unable to fully participate in this process for health reasons, there is no evidence that that the Council has acted with fault. It has now accepted a new homelessness application from her and extended her entitlement to temporary accommodation. There is no outstanding injustice to Miss X.
17. The Council has accepted it did not respond to Miss X’s emails sent in response to her eviction notice in March 2021. Because it has done so now, I do not consider this significant enough to pursue the matter further.

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Final decision

18. There was no fault in how the Council responded to Miss X’s request for housing support. On this basis I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman