Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s response when she became homeless because of domestic abuse. We found fault with the Council. This caused Miss X distress and financial hardship. The Council agreed actions to remedy the injustice to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s response when she became homeless due to domestic abuse. She complained it refused to allow her to join its housing register and would not provide any financial support to secure a privately rented property.
2. Miss X said this caused her significant distress, exposed her to risk and caused her financial hardship.

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 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Miss X and considered the information she provided. We made enquiries with the Council and considered its response with relevant law and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Law and guidance

Homelessness

7. The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 applies to all homelessness applications. The Homelessness Code of Guidance (the Code) is the statutory guidance to Council’s on homelessness duties and carrying out their functions.
8. If someone is homeless, or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, they can seek help from the Council. They must be eligible for assistance.
9. Where the person is threatened with homelessness, the prevention duty may apply.
10. Where the person is actually homeless, the relief duty may apply.
11. The Council will carry out an assessment and work with the person to develop a personalised housing plan (PHP).
12. If a Council has reason to believe a person may be:

• homeless;
• eligible; and
• in priority need.

then it must provide interim accommodation for them.

13. A person may be in priority need if they are:

• pregnant or have dependent children;
• a victim of domestic abuse;
• aged 16 or 17;
• former care leavers aged 18 to 20; or,
• vulnerable, for example, for medical reasons.

14. When the relief period ends the Council must decide whether it owes the person the main housing duty.
15. The Council must put all key decisions in writing and give reasons for negative decisions. In most cases, there is a right to ask for a review of the decision.
16. Where the Council arranges accommodation this must be suitable for the person and those who can reasonably be expected to live with them.
17. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 introduced a statutory definition for domestic abuse. It made changes to council’s housing duties:

• Changing the definition of “priority need” to include those seeking assistance with homelessness after fleeing domestic abuse;
• Introducing a “domestic abuse protection order” to secure the victims current accommodation; and
• Requiring councils to grant secure tenancies in some circumstances.

18. The Code provides guidance to councils providing homelessness services to people who have experienced, or are at risk of, domestic abuse.

Allocations

19. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
20. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new freedoms to allow councils to better manage their waiting list and to tailor their allocation priorities to meet local needs.
21. 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))

22. Councils must notify applicants in writing of the following decisions and give reasons:

• that the applicant is not eligible for an allocation;
• that the applicant is not a qualifying person;
• a decision not to award the applicant reasonable preference because of their unacceptable behaviour.

23. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
24. Housing applicants can ask the council to review a wide range of decisions about their applications, including decisions about their housing priority.

The Council’s allocations scheme

25. The Council’s allocations scheme sets out how it determines priorities and the procedure it follows to make decisions about who is eligible and their Banding.
26. The Council has a Choice Based Lettings Scheme. Applicants are restricted to “bidding” on properties for which their household has an assessed need.
27. The scheme sets out the categories of applicants in Section 167 of the Housing Act 1996 that are given reasonable preference.
28. Band A is the highest priority and Band C is the lowest. The priority bandings are explained in Appendix One of the scheme.
29. The scheme explains the review process for applicants who it decides are not eligible to join the register.

What happened

30. Miss X lives with her child. In October 2021 she was the victim of a domestic abuse incident at her address, property A. She made a homeless application to the Council because she no longer felt safe at property A.
31. The Council accepted it owed Miss X the prevention duty. It completed a PHP. Miss X also applied to join the housing register.
32. Miss X’s independent domestic violence advocate (IDVA) wrote a letter of support to the Council. They explained Miss X was at high risk of domestic abuse and why she could not move into a refuge. They also explained why Miss X wanted to stay in the same area because of work and her child’s school.
33. The Council told Miss X it would offer interim accommodation but not in the Council’s area. It said it would be in a different area, possibly out of the district. It told Miss X it could put measures in place at Property A to make it feel safer. Miss X declined both offers.
34. Miss X asked the Council for financial help with a deposit and rent if she found her own privately rented accommodation. The Council told Miss X it would only help her if she moved away from the Council area.
35. Miss X provided medical evidence to support her housing application that explained her child’s anxiety. The Council sought advice from its medical advisor and decided she did not qualify for medical priority. It did not accept her housing application.
36. Miss X asked her MP for support. They wrote to the Council on Miss X’s behalf in November. The Council’s response said Miss X was not entitled to join the housing register because she was adequately housed. It said the allocations policy did make an exception for those fleeing domestic abuse, but Miss X did not qualify because it does not allow applicants to wait in their own home until an allocation can be made. It said it offered Miss X interim accommodation but she declined because it was not in the Council’s area.
37. In December the Council asked the Police for more information about the domestic abuse incident Miss X reported. It confirmed the incident in October 2021 was a high risk incident. The perpetrator was arrested but Miss X would not confirm he was responsible, so the Police took no further action. The Police said a housing move was suitable in the circumstances.
38. Miss X appealed the Councils decision not to allow her to join the housing register. The Council upheld its decision.
39. Miss X complained to the Council. She was unhappy with its response and asked her complaint to be considered at stage two of the Councils complaint process. The Council provided its response in March 2022. The Council did not uphold Miss X’s complaints.
40. Miss X remained unhappy with the response and complained to the Ombudsman.

My findings

41. I have summarised my findings under the main complaint issues.

Homelessness and interim accommodation

42. I found fault with the Council. It accepted that Miss X was a high risk victim of domestic abuse who needed to leave property A. This was the location of the incident and Miss X did not feel safe there. I am not clear why the Council accepted the prevention duty rather than the relief duty. The prevention duty would suggest the Council felt it was safe for Miss X to remain at property A. However, the Council’s communication with Miss X centred on telling her she should leave the Council area for her safety. If the Council thought Miss X was not safe in property A it should have accepted the relief duty.
43. Miss X repeatedly explained why she wanted to stay in the Council’s area. She needed to be in that area because of work and school. She also told the Council the perpetrator did not live in that area. Miss X’s IDVA explained why Miss X wanted to stay in the area and why she could not move into a refuge.
44. Throughout its communication with Miss X the Council maintained a set view of her situation and what she should do. It did not show any understanding of Miss X’s individual circumstances. It sought to tell Miss X what she should do and took away her agency to make decisions about what was in the best interests for her and her child.
45. The Council based some of its decisions on assumptions or incomplete information. It also made judgements based on its own view of how victims of domestic abuse should respond.
46. For example. The Council told the MP in its response:

‘Unfortunately, Miss X is insistent that she should remain in the same area where she was a victim of domestic abuse. The Council considers it to be inconsistent of Miss X to say she is homeless from one property, yet she would be safe in the same neighbourhood’.

It told Miss X:

‘But we would not support a move to another property in XXX or the surrounding areas because doing so would potentially put you in harms way. That is not something we can allow. If you choose to move to another property in XXX you are free to do so, but for reasons stated above we could not support that move in any way’.

47. In its stage two response the Council told Miss X it contacted the Police but because Miss X had refused to name the suspect the Council was not able to ‘gain any intelligence on where he lives’.
48. The information the Council sent in response to our enquiries included information from the Police. It said the suspect was arrested but was released because:

‘Victim declined to confirm the perp as responsible and would not give a statement out of fear of the perp’.

49. This would suggest the Council could have obtained more information about the perpetrator from the Police. It also supported Miss X’s account about how scared she was of the perpetrator and why she was reluctant to provide their details.
50. I cannot understand how the Council reached its decision that Miss X would be safer in another area or borough when it did not know where the perpetrator lived or frequented. If Miss X had taken the Council’s offer for temporary accommodation she could have been placed at higher risk.
51. Miss X also explained the financial abuse she suffered and how this affected her ability to pay her rent and secure another property. When she decided to arrange her own privately rented accommodation in the Council’s area it refused to give her any financial assistance. Miss X explained that one of the main reasons she needed to stay in that area was so she could keep her job.
52. There was no evidence from any of the professionals involved to suggest Miss X was not able to make decisions in the best interest of her and her child. The Council even questioned the professional judgment of the IDVA who wrote in support of Miss X.
53. I read Miss X’s emails to the Council about her situation and sensed the increasing upset and frustration she felt and the lack of support she was given to make her own decisions. She told the Council:

‘How is this fair I didn’t terrorise anyone yet you want me to move my anxious child out of area and lose my income?’

And

‘After this experience I can see why lots of women and men stay in abusive relationships the homeless team at Epping Forest have tried to make it impossible for me to stay and to leave would be nothing but stress and financial hardship not to mention what it would do to my (child)’.

54. It may be the Council’s policy to offer those fleeing domestic abuse interim/ temporary accommodation in a different area. However, it should not apply this rigidly without consideration of individual circumstances.
55. Miss X experienced significant distress from the Council’s response to her situation and financial difficulties securing a privately rented property.

Housing

56. I found fault with the way the Council reached its decision about Miss X’s housing application.
57. It applied the wrong part of its allocations policy. In its response to Miss X’s MP the Council said:

‘The Council’s Allocations Policy does make an exception for those who are fleeing domestic abuse; however, it does not make provision for applicants to wait in their own home until an allocation can be made. The policy states: -

(vii) Any applicant who is entitled to a reasonable preference under Part 6 of the Housing Act 1996 as amended and can demonstrate an exceptional need to either leave their current local authority’s area or move to the Epping Forest District’.

58. This relates to Band C (vii) in Appendix one of the housing allocation scheme where there is an ‘exceptional need’ for an applicant to either leave their area or move to Epping Forest District. The Council did not need to apply this category. Band C (viii) automatically applied when it accepted it owed Miss X the prevention duty, irrespective of the apparent fault with that decision. Appendix one Band C (viii) says:

‘All home seekers to whom the Council does not owe a full homelessness duty, where there is a requirement under Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996… to afford reasonable preference on the ground of homelessness’.

59. When the Council decided it owed Miss X the prevention duty in October 2021 she would have also been entitled to join the Housing Register in Band C. Miss X was denied the opportunity to join the housing register. This did not cause her a significant injustice because it was unlikely she would have been offered a property due to her Banding and the availability of properties.

Back to top

Agreed action

60. Within one month of my final decision the Council agrees to:

• Apologise to Miss X for the fault identified in this statement.
• Pay Miss X the equivalent of one months rent and her deposit for the property she moved to.
• Pay Miss X £500 in recognition of the distress and frustration it caused her.

61. Within two months of my final decision the Council agrees to:

• Use this decision statement as an example for homelessness officers working with domestic abuse victims to improve their understanding of victim choice and agency.

Back to top

Final decision

62. I found fault with the Council causing injustice. I completed my investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman