Summary: Miss E complained the Council failed to deal with disrepair issues in her temporary accommodation. We find the Council delayed following up on some disrepair issues. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

The complaint

1. Miss E complained the Council failed to deal with disrepair issues in her temporary accommodation. She says this has severely affected her mental health and caused her distress.

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What I have investigated

2. I have investigated Miss E’s complaint from April 2021 onwards. I have not investigated her complaint before this date for the reasons explained at the end of this statement.

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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 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)
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 considered information from Miss E. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
7. Miss E and the Council 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

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities sets out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
9. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need it has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
10. 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)
11. As the duty to provide suitable accommodation is a continuing obligation, councils must keep the issue of suitability of accommodation under review. If there is a change of circumstances the council must reconsider whether the accommodation remains suitable.

What happened

12. This chronology provides an overview of key events and does not detail everything that happened.
13. Miss E was homeless and lived in temporary accommodation. She contacted the Council in March 2021 and said there was damp in the property, broken fence panels and issues with the boiler. The Council passed the information to the management company (Company A).
14. Company A sent a contractor out to investigate the damp issues. It also sent an engineer to resolve the boiler issues.
15. Miss E emailed the Council and said she was unhappy with the materials the contractor had used to investigate the damp issues. The Council asked Company A for an update on the disrepair issues. It also made it aware of the concerns Miss E raised about the materials.
16. Company A responded and explained it had fixed the front garden panels and the back garden panels would be replaced the following week. It also said it would re-visit the property to continue its investigation regarding the damp issues. It said the materials it used were suitable.
17. Miss E called the Council and asked if it had received a response from Company A regarding the materials used on the property. The Council explained the materials were suitable, and the contractor would be coming tomorrow to complete the job. Miss E said she would not allow anyone into her property.
18. Miss E changed her mind and allowed the Council to inspect her property a few days later. The inspector identified damp in the kitchen and told Company A it required attention from a damp specialist.
19. The Council contacted Miss E and said alternative accommodation had become available in two properties. Miss E refused both properties and said they were not suitable for her family. The Council also suggested that Miss E could temporarily move into one of the properties to allow Company A to complete the damp proof works. Miss E declined.
20. A damp proof specialist attended the property the following week and completed a damp survey.
21. Company A contacted the Council and explained the property required damp proofing and Miss E would need to move into alternative accommodation while it carried out the works. It said it would need to re-visit the property.
22. Miss E said she would not allow any Company A to complete any repairs in the property until the Council moved her to alternative accommodation. Company A contacted Miss E several times to get access to the property, but she refused.
23. The Council contacted Miss E and said it had identified further alternative accommodation for her. It said it was due to inspect it, and if it passed, it would offer it to her.
24. Miss E viewed the property, but decided it was unsuitable for her family. The Council said it was a recently decorated property, it was furnished, and it had the basic requirements families needed. Miss E maintained the property was unsuitable and refused to accept it.
25. Miss E contacted the Council a few months later in August and said there was still damp in the property and her boiler had stopped working. An engineer visited and resolved the boiler issues a few days later.
26. Miss E contacted the Council again in September and said it had still not resolved the damp issues. The Council contacted Company A and asked for a detailed plan for proposed works on the property and whether Miss E would be able to live there while the works were ongoing.
27. Company A provided the information to the Council. It also said the landlord wanted to re-visit the property. Miss E agreed to give access in October. Company A said the contractor would inspect the property and get a quote for the works.
28. The Council spoke with Miss E in December. She said no one had resolved the damp issues. She also said the fencing was in a state of disrepair and there was no banister on the stairs. The Council said it would contact Company A to resolve the issues. It also said she would have to move to an alternative property as the landlord was withdrawing the property from the temporary housing scheme.
29. The Council spoke to Miss E on 12 January 2022. She said it had done nothing to resolve the issues. The Council’s note of the phone call states Miss E was rude and used inappropriate language.
30. The Council chased Company A for a response to the outstanding repair issues.
31. Miss E complained to the Council on 15 March. She said it had failed to resolve the disrepair issues in the property. She said it had not dealt with the banister and fence.
32. The Council responded on 28 March. It partly upheld her complaint about the disrepair, and it apologised for the inconvenience she had experienced. It said Company A would be in touch to ensure the repairs were completed.
33. Company A contacted the contractor on 30 March and asked it to investigate the banister and the fence.
34. The Council offered Miss E a permanent property on 31 March. Miss E signed the tenancy agreement the following day. She viewed the property and said she was not happy with it. The Council said the property was suitable, but there were some disrepair issues the management company needed to resolve.
35. Miss E emailed the Council and asked it to review the suitability of the property. She said there were disrepair issues and mould and damp in the property.
36. The Council reviewed the matter and said the property was suitable. It said while the disrepair issues were inconvenient, they did not present a serious hazard to her or her children. It said the management company was addressing her issues. It said if she remained dissatisfied with its response, she could appeal to the county court.
37. Miss E moved into the property in July.

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Analysis

38. When Miss E made the Council aware of the disrepair issues, it worked with Company A to get them resolved. It offered Miss E alternative accommodation so it could resolve the damp in the property, but she declined the offers. She also said she would not give the contractor access to her property to resolve the issues. Therefore, the matter did not proceed, but this was not because of any fault by the Council.
39. Miss E contacted the Council again in August and September and asked it to resolve the damp issues. She also gave permission for the landlord to enter the property in October. Despite this, there is no evidence this was ever resolved. Miss E raised the issue again in December, and while the Council contacted Company A, there is no evidence any repairs for the damp took place. The Council should have followed this up, but it did not do so. This is fault, which caused Miss E frustration and upset.
40. Miss E also said the fence had blown down and the banister needed repairing in December. She raised it again in January, and in her complaint in March. There was a delay of three months before any action was taken by Company A to resolve the matter. The Council took no action to follow it up from January until after Miss E’s complaint in March. This fault caused Miss E further frustration and she was put to time and trouble repeating her concerns.

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Agreed action

41. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 1 December 2022 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss E.
• Pay Miss E £150 for her time and trouble and frustration.

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Final decision

42. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss E an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

43. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons to do so. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done.
44. Miss E refers to matters from 2020, but she did not refer her complaint to us until April 2022. I am satisfied Miss E could have referred earlier events to us much sooner, and so I have not exercised discretion to investigate them. My investigation focuses on events from April 2021 onwards.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman