Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council keeps offering unsuitable properties and the complainant is facing eviction. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because the complainant could use his review and appeal rights.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council keeps offering unsuitable properties and will not accept he needs a second bedroom. He says he is facing eviction. Mr X wants the Council to offer a two bedroom property in a specific area.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for an organisation review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes correspondence about his housing and the medical evidence. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. When a council accepts someone as homeless it must offer suitable accommodation. If the person rejects the offer the Council can discharge its homelessness duty and ask the person to leave any temporary accommodation that has been provided. If the person thinks the Council has made an unsuitable offer they can ask for a review and then appeal.
5. The Council’s allocations policy says a single person will normally be offered a one bedroom home.
6. Mr X has mental health problems. The Council accepted him as homeless in 2020 and provided temporary accommodation. Mr X remains in that property. The Council offered permanent accommodation in 2020; Mr X refused it and said it was unsuitable. The Council upheld his appeal.
7. The Council has recently made another offer. It offered a one bedroom flat with its own kitchen and bathroom. Mr X has not viewed the property. He says he needs a two bedroom property because he needs overnight care. The Council offered an Occupational Therapy assessment to help determine his need; Mr X declined to have an assessment.
8. The Council maintains the offer is suitable. It has not received any medical evidence stating Mr X needs a second bedroom. If Mr X refuses the offer the Council may discharge its homelessness duty and ask Mr X to leave the temporary accommodation.
9. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council accepted Mr X as homeless and provided accommodation. It has offered a one bedroom property as permanent accommodation, in line with the policy, and there is no evidence Mr X needs two bedrooms or needs to live in a specific area. We do not act as an appeal body and cannot substitute our decisions for those of the Council. I can only consider if there was fault in the way the Council made its decision and I see no suggestion of fault in that process.
10. I also will not investigate this complaint because, as he has done before, Mr X can use his review and appeal rights if the Council makes an offer which he thinks is unsuitable or if the Council discharges the homelessness duty. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to use his review rights because it is the correct way to challenge homelessness decisions.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because there are review and appeal rights Mr X could use.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman