Summary: Mrs X complained the Council prevented her from accessing her temporary accommodation and belongings. She also complained the Council did not provide her with advice about homelessness and did not provide her with further temporary accommodation. We have discontinued our investigation because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council prevented her from accessing the temporary accommodation where she was living and subsequently prevented her from accessing her belongings. Mrs X also complained the Council did not provide her with advice regarding her homelessness and did not provide further temporary accommodation.
2. Mrs X also complained the Council:
1. removed her from the electoral register without her consent,
2. failed to report crime to the Police, and
3. harassed her about registering for a house.
3. Mrs X says the Council’s actions have caused her avoidable distress and meant she had to sleep rough for a prolonged period of time. Mrs X would like the Council to provide her with access to her belongings and to provide her with temporary accommodation.

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What I have and have not investigated

4. This investigation relates to the complaints referred to in paragraph one. It does not include the complaints referred to in paragraph two because:
1. Mrs X had the right to appeal to the Registration Officer about her exclusion from the electoral register. There is a right to appeal to the County Court if appeals to the Registration Officer are unsuccessful.
2. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to report crime to the Police and that it harassed her about registering for a house.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
8. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. I have considered all the information Mrs X provided. I have also considered the information the Council provided.
10. Mrs X and the Council have had the opportunity to provide their comments on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Duties to the homeless

11. Councils must provide to anyone in their district information and advice free of charge on:

• preventing homelessness;
• securing accommodation when homeless;
• the rights of people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness;
• the duties of the authority;
• any help that is available from the authority or anyone else, for people in the council’s district who are homeless or may become homeless (whether or not they are threatened with homelessness), and
• how to access that help.

12. 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) 
13. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
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)

Background

15. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
16. In September 2018 the County Court made an order for Mrs X to be evicted from the home she jointly owned with her ex-husband. Mrs X says her ex-husband wanted to sell the property and she did not consent to this.
17. Mrs X asked the Council for assistance because she was homeless and asked the Council to provide her with accommodation. The Council provided Mrs X with temporary accommodation.
18. Mrs X complained to us about the Council’s actions regarding the way it considered her homelessness application. We upheld this complaint in March 2021.

What happened

19. The Council made an offer of alternative temporary accommodation to Mrs X on 2 February 2022.
20. On 11 February 2022, the Council wrote to Mrs X. It said it had contacted Mrs X several times regarding its offer, but she had not responded. The Council said it had explained that if Mrs X did not make contact, it would treat this as a refusal to accept the offer of temporary accommodation. The Council said because Mrs X had not accepted the offer, its duty to re-house her as a homeless person had ended. The Council gave Mrs X 28 days’ notice to leave her then current temporary accommodation. The Council told Mrs X she had the right to request a review of its decision in accordance with section 202 of the Housing Act 1996.

Mrs X’s complaint

21. Mrs X complained to the Council in September 2022. She referred to the events previously investigated by us in 2021, but also said the Council had denied her access to her temporary accommodation and her belongings. Mrs X also complained the Council had not provided her with advice or alternative accommodation.
22. The Council told us it had not considered Mrs X’s new complaint under its complaints procedure because it considered it was essentially the same complaint as that previously investigated.
23. We accepted Mrs X’s complaint for investigation because we considered there were new elements to it. We also considered the Council had been made aware of the complaint and had been given an opportunity to investigate and reply.

Analysis

24. It has not been possible to discuss the complaint with Mrs X, so I have reviewed the information she provided when she brought her complaint to us. I have also reviewed information provided by the Council.
25. The Council’s letter to Mrs X dated 11 February 2022 explained it had given 28 days’ notice to Mrs X to vacate her then current accommodation. The letter also said Mrs X had the right to appeal this decision. The Council says Mrs X did not appeal the decision. It also says Mrs X’s belongings remain in storage and she can make arrangements to collect them.
26. Mrs X says the Council did not provide her with advice regarding her homelessness and did not provide further temporary accommodation. However, Mrs X also says she does not consider herself homeless because she did not consent to the sale of her property and does not accept the court order to sell the house. Mrs X also says she would like the Council to stop getting a third-party organisation that works with rough sleepers in the area to contact her.
27. The Council says Mrs X would not communicate directly with it and would only communicate via one of the representatives of a third-party organisation. It says it has tried to assist Mrs X regarding her homelessness, but she has not engaged with it. The Council says it has advised Mrs X (via the third-party organisation) that she can approach the Council as homeless again at any time.
28. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to continue investigating Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the Council told Mrs X of its decision to end its duty to re-house her and gave 28 days’ notice to vacate the property. Although Mrs X says she was unable to access her accommodation, this was after the 28-day period had ended. The Council also told Mrs X of her right to appeal its decision, but Mrs X did not exercise this right. Mrs X is also able to retrieve her belongings from storage once she has made arrangements to collect them. The Council says it has tried to assist Mrs X regarding her ongoing homelessness, but she has not engaged with it. The Council also says it has continued to liaise with third-party organisations to try to provide support to Mrs X.

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Final decision

29. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify continuing with our investigation. I have therefore discontinued my investigation of Mrs X’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman