Summary: Ms X complains about the way the Council has dealt with her eviction from her temporary accommodation and failing to assess her needs for support and for suitable accommodation. We find fault with the Council for inadequate record keeping, failing to communicate with Ms X about her possessions and failing to consider her circumstances when moving her possessions to a different storage facility. We have agreed remedies for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the way the Council has dealt with her eviction from her temporary accommodation (TA). Ms X complains the Council:
1. Evicted her from her TA in May without giving proper notice and stopped her housing benefit;
2. Failed to adequately arrange alternative TA after she was evicted, which meant she had to sleep on the streets for three nights and then had to move from one end of London to another;
3. Accommodation offers have not been suitable for her needs;
4. Delayed responding to her enquiries about her possessions which were put into storage, and the arrangements make it difficult for her to access them, and
5. Has not provided any support for her mental health needs, only now completing an assessment.
2. Ms X says she would like the Council to bid for properties for her, and to get a written apology from the Council. She wants to be safeguarded rather than evicted.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. 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

7. I considered information provided by Ms X and discussed the complaint with her. I also considered the Council’s comments on the complaint and the supporting information it provided.
8. I considered the relevant parts of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.
9. Ms X 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

Legislation and statutory guidance

Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation

10. 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.
11. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
12. 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)
13. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of the suitability of accommodation offered to them after a homelessness duty has been accepted.

Protection of belongings

14. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

What happened

Eviction (Complaint a)

15. Ms X was staying in TA provided by the Council in May 2022. She had been living at this Hotel for over two years.
16. Ms X went away for ten days, a trip she says she takes every year. She says she told her floating support worker and the concierge at the Hotel.
17. After she went away the Council cancelled her booking at the Hotel which resulted in her housing benefit being stopped.
18. Ms X emailed the Council saying she had not left her accommodation and her support worker had said she could stay there until the Council had completed a review of suitability.
19. The Council offered Ms X different accommodation while she was away before her hotel booking was cancelled. Ms X refused this and said she wanted to stay at the Hotel.
20. Once she returned from her trip Ms X raised a complaint about the eviction. She said she did not get the 28 day eviction notice, her room passed the health and safety check and she does not want to move away from her support network.
21. The Council responded in June saying the Hotel contacted it raising health and safety concerns before she went away, providing photos of Ms X’s room. While she was away the Council sent Ms X a warning letter about the condition of her room and the impact it was having on other guests.
22. The Council’s stage two response in August explained her housing benefit was stopped as her booking was cancelled. Since then she has had three different placements and her housing benefit was reinstated.

Offers of Temporary Accommodation (complaints b and c)

23. On return from her trip, Ms X was street homeless for a few days, as she had refused the offer of TA from the Council.
24. She was then housed in various hotels around London.
25. The Council made offers of five properties which Ms X refused on various grounds.
26. In September 2022 the Council discharged the homelessness (S193) duty due to Ms X’s refusal of TA and offered Miss X a Suitability Review.

Storage (complaint d)

27. The Hotel where Ms X was staying packed her belongings and the Council took them into storage while she was away. The Council advised Ms X that she will get them back once she has settled accommodation.
28. Ms X is upset someone went into her room and took all her possessions. She says she cannot access her possessions in storage and needs winter clothing and her personal items.
29. Ms X says she left all her belongings in her room so there was nothing to suggest she had abandoned the property.
30. Ms X has still not had her possessions back. She had to pay £17 to access her possessions, and the Council advised us it recently moved her possessions to a different storage location and the cost to Ms X will now be £75 plus VAT for access.

Assessment (complaint e)

31. Ms X asked for the suitability review of the new accommodation offered and spoke to the Council about her eviction. She said as the Council had not assessed her needs, how could it know the accommodation offered was suitable?
32. In her stage two complaint, Ms X said she has multiple health needs, she is unhappy with how long she has been in TA, and she has had to move many times which has affected her mental health.
33. The Council’s stage two response accepted it had not previously asked what her medical and support needs are. It was also difficult for Ms X having to speak to several different officers so the Council arranged for a dedicated worker to be her single point of contact for both support and housing needs. Ms X’s stage two complaint was upheld.
34. Ms X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman, saying the Council never considered her health and disability needs, she does not have her property back and there has been a lack of communication and clarity. Even though the Council said it would give her a single contact in August, by November she still had not been able to speak to him.

Analysis

Eviction (complaint a)

35. In my enquiries I asked the Council for evidence of the decision making for the eviction. The Council said the Hotel called to say they had not seen Ms X for over two weeks, they had not been told she was going away and her belongings were still in her room. An inventory was carried out and her possessions taken into storage.
36. The Council say it discussed whether to evict Ms X over the telephone or on Teams. There is no contemporaneous evidence about the decision making which is fault.
37. The Council say the Hotel had concerns over health and safety due to the condition of Ms X’s room. Ms X says her room passed the health and safety test but has not provided us with any evidence of this.
38. On balance we are satisfied the Council had good reasons to evict Ms X due to health and safety concerns about her room.

Offers of Temporary Accommodation (complaint b and c)

39. This is out of our jurisdiction as it is subject to appeal rights as in paragraph 4 above.

Storage (complaint d)

40. Ms X’s possessions were put into storage in May 2022 while she was away, as the Council have a statutory duty under Section 211 of the Housing Act 1996 to protect Miss X’s property.
41. Ms X emailed the Council in June asking where all her belongings were.
42. In my enquiries I asked the Council for any correspondence about Ms X’s possessions being put into storage. In response I only received three emails between people who work at the Council, asking for permission to put the belongings into storage, and confirmation that it was done.
43. There is no communication with Ms X about her possessions. This is fault.
44. The Council can charge reasonable fees for storage, but it must consider Ms X’s financial and personal circumstances. The Council has not levied a charge for storage and has stored Ms X’s possessions free of charge. However there is no evidence the Council have considered Ms X’s circumstances with regards to changing the place of storage, and the fee for accessing her possessions has increased. This is fault.

Assessment (complaint e)

45. The Council accept fault in delaying Ms X’s assessment. However this would be part of Ms X’s evidence about the suitability of the TA so this will be evidence for any review or appeal, and therefore out of jurisdiction for the Ombudsman.

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Agreed action

46. In investigating this complaint, I have sought records from the Council which it could not provide. I therefore make a recommendation the Council should improve its record keeping.
47. Within one month of the final decision the Council should:
1. Write a personalised apology to Ms X for the faults identified above;
2. Pay Ms X £100 for the distress and frustration caused for failing to communicate with her regarding her possessions;
3. Review the charges to Ms X for access to her property considering her circumstances;
4. Review procedures regarding assessments in homelessness cases and ensure staff are aware of these; and
5. Remind all officers dealing with homelessness cases about the importance of attendance notes and record keeping. I note this has also been recommended in a previous complaint.
48. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

49. I find fault with the Council for failing to keep contemporaneous records, failing to communicate with Ms X about her possessions and failing to consider her circumstances when moving her possessions to a different storage facility. We have agreed remedies for the injustice caused.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman