Summary: Miss B says the Council failed to communicate properly with her or provide her with support, failed to act when her landlord was evicting her, gave her incorrect information and failed to allocate stars to her housing register application. The Council delayed awarding stars for the housing register application and failed to communicate effectively with her on occasion. An apology, payment to Miss B, amending information provided to homeless applicants and a reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss B, complained the Council:
• failed to address the fact she is living in temporary accommodation which is too small for her family;
• failed to respond to her communications, allocate her a caseworker or provide her with support;
• failed to act when she told the Council her landlord was evicting her in August 2022;
• failed to provide her with help when she identified her own private rented accommodation in October 2022;
• wrongly told her to put in a homeless application to Bexley;
• failed to allocate stars to her housing register application; and
• failed to give her any information about the affordability of private renting and her entitlement to housing benefit.
2. Miss B says failures by the Council means her family has remained in unsatisfactory living conditions for longer than necessary. Miss B says her family’s mental health has been affected.

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What I have and have not investigated

3. I have investigated the complaint with the exception of the suitability of the temporary accommodation provided to Miss B. I explain my reasoning for that at the end of this statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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)
6. 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)
7. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
8. 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

9. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Miss B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
10. Miss B and the organisation 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

What should have happened

11. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (the Act) and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (the code of guidance) set out councils' powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
12. 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. This is called the main duty.
13. 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.
14. The accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty is called temporary accommodation. Councils meet this duty in different ways, including:
• the council's own housing stock;
• dedicated hostels or purpose-built accommodation;
• properties procured from housing associations or other registered providers of social housing;
• properties leased from private landlords.
15. Once a council accepts the main housing duty it has a duty to secure that suitable accommodation is available for occupation by the applicant and their household. But there is no duty to provide a permanent, secure or assured tenancy. Many accepted homeless households remain in temporary accommodation with limited security of tenure for a long time while they bid for permanent housing through the council’s housing allocations scheme.
16. Applicants may ask for a review of the council’s decision that the accommodation offered to them is suitable.
17. The Council’s allocations scheme (the scheme) says when a person is accepted onto the housing register they will be placed in a band. The scheme says band 3 is allocated for homeless households for whom the Council has accepted a duty to accommodate.
18. The scheme says within each band, priority is accorded by:
• a priority star system; and
• the date of registration.
19. The scheme says the Council will award one priority star for those to whom the Council owes a statutory homelessness duty.
20. The scheme says the Council will award one priority star for a working household. The definition of a working household is where at least one adult member of the household is in employment. Applicants will have to have been working for 16 hours or more per week for 9 out of the last 12 months. The Council will seek verification at the point of application, and at the point of offer. Applicants must provide pay slips, P45 and P60, tax returns, bank statements and a verifying letter on headed paper from their employer to qualify.

What happened

21. In November 2016 Miss B applied to the Council as homeless with her partner and child. The Council placed the family in one bedroom temporary accommodation. The Council subsequently accepted a duty to house the family. At that point Miss B was provided with a bidding number for social housing. The Council said it could make a direct offer of accommodation to those homeless households in temporary accommodation for at least six months. The Council explained refusal of such an offer would result in the Council discharging its duty. The Council explained Miss B could ask for a review of the suitability of any accommodation provided to her. The Council also told Miss B it could discharge its duty to house her by securing accommodation for her in the private sector. The Council explained it would only make one offer and if that offer was refused the Council would discharge its duty. The Council explained due to the shortage of social housing it was likely Miss B would wait a considerable time to receive an offer of social housing and therefore she was more likely to receive an offer of a 12 months assured short hold tenancy in the private sector.
22. In May 2017 when corresponding with the Council about rent arrears Miss B told the Council she had begun employment on 14 November 2016.
23. In January 2018 Miss B completed a housing register change of circumstance form where she reported she was unemployed.
24. In June 2019 when corresponding with the Council about rent arrears Miss B said she had secured employment.
25. In August 2020 the Council made Miss B a direct offer of accommodation. The Council later agreed to withdraw that offer as Miss B said she needed to live in the Bexley area. The Council did not discharge its duty.
26. On 7 July 2022 the agent for the temporary accommodation occupied by Miss B asked the Council for it to be returned to the landlord by 31 August 2022. The Council placed Miss B on the transfer list to move to alternative accommodation although it told the agent it may not be possible to meet the timescale.
27. Miss B contacted the Council on 14 October about a private rented property she had found. Miss B told the Council the landlord wanted 5 weeks deposit and a guarantor. The Council told Miss B it only offered incentives to landlords for either a 12 or 24 month tenancy and the Council could not act as a guarantor. The Council carried out an affordability assessment for Miss B which concluded the property was affordable. There is no evidence of further contact from Miss B about the property.
28. The Council contacted Miss B on 29 November to tell her it had identified a new one-bedroom temporary property for her as her landlord wanted the property back. Miss B raised concerns about the Council’s delay contacting her when it knew the landlord wanted the property back earlier in the year. Miss B said the Council had ignored her emails asking for help. Miss B said a one-bedroom property was not suitable and asked whether the Council could reach an agreement with Bexley to transfer her there. Miss B chased the Council on 30 November.
29. Miss B then contacted her local Councillors who made representations on her behalf. At that point the Council identified Miss B had not received the homeless star for her housing register application and potentially the working star.
30. Miss B contacted the Council on 16 January 2023 to ask for an update. Miss B raised concerns about the lack of contact from the Council.
31. The Council added the homeless star to Miss B’s housing register application on 17 January 2023. The Council then referred Miss B to the team that helped with private renting. The Council noted Miss B had rent arrears and told her she would limit her chance of receiving an offer of permanent accommodation while she had rent arrears.
32. An officer from the private renting team contacted Miss B on 9 February. That officer believed Miss B had identified a private rented property to move to and asked her to provide the name of the landlord and contact number. Miss B told the Council she had not identified a private rented property and provided the Council with a list of the areas she could consider.
33. The Council then provided Miss B with details of landlords/agents that accepted tenants on low incomes and advised her to give the landlord/agent the leaflet the Council had attached about the incentive scheme. The Council said Miss B could then provide details of the landlord identified for the Council to liaise and try to secure the property.
34. A Council officer discussed with Miss B the size of property she needed. Miss B told the Council she needed a two-bedroom property and listed the areas she would consider. The Council told Miss B it did not have any two or three-bedroom properties in the areas listed. Miss B asked the Council to provide details of any two bedroom properties it had so she could see whether the areas were commutable. The Council provided that information to Miss B. Miss B asked to view one of the properties.
35. On 17 February the Council provided Miss B with information about how to apply for the working star. The Council also told Miss B the recent private sector property they had discussed was affordable and suggested she view the property. The Council told Miss B she would need to contribute £380.69 a month towards the rent.
36. On 26 February the Council moved Miss B to a further property as temporary accommodation.
37. In April 2023 Miss B provided the Council with the documentary evidence to support her application for a working star. The Council awarded the working star on 4 May. Miss B has decided private rented properties are not affordable for her due to the amount she would need to contribute towards the rent. Miss B is therefore bidding for social housing.

Analysis

38. The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint about what happened more than 12 months ago. In this case I have exercised the Ombudsman’s discretion to investigate the period before 2021 for the complaints about failing to allocate stars to the housing register application and failing to give Miss B information about the affordability of private renting. That is because Miss B says the Council did not give her any information on those issues and she did not know about them until 2022. For the remainder of the complaint which relates to matters before 2021 I am only investigating the period from 2021 onwards as I see no reason why Miss B could not have complained to the Ombudsman about those issues within 12 months.
39. Miss B says the Council failed to allocate her a caseworker or provide her with any support. Miss B says because of that she has not been able to identify a suitable property to move into. In contrast the Council says once it accepts the main housing duty to an applicant it no longer assigns a caseworker to that person as its main involvement is at an end although it will respond to communications from the applicant about their case.
40. I cannot criticise the Council for not allocating a caseworker to Miss B once the Council accepted a main housing duty to her in 2016. There is no requirement for the Council to do that. I am satisfied the letter to Miss B telling her about the Council’s duty to house her gave her the information she needed about how to bid for Council properties which, alongside Miss B looking for her own private rented property, was the way forward. I appreciate Miss B is frustrated about the amount of time she has had to stay in temporary accommodation. However, as I say in paragraph 15, it is usual for homeless families to remain in temporary accommodation for a long time until they are able to successfully secure social housing through bidding on the Council’s housing register. In this case Miss B is reliant on that to resolve her housing situation as she says she cannot afford to top up housing benefit to cover the rent in private rented accommodation. I only have evidence of Miss B bidding on two Council properties since she was placed in temporary housing, although I appreciate even if she had bid on more properties it is likely she would have remained in temporary accommodation given the waiting times for social housing.
41. That is unfortunately due to the lack of availability of sufficient social housing to house those who need accommodation though, rather than due to any fault by the Council. Having a caseworker allocated would not have changed that position. I am satisfied the Council tried to help Miss B by making her a direct offer of accommodation in 2020 which would have allowed her to move out of her temporary accommodation. I understand why Miss B chose not to accept that accommodation given she needs to live in Bexley. However, as the Council has pointed out, it could have discharged its duty to house Miss B at that point as it normally only makes one offer of accommodation it considers suitable. The Council has not done that in this case and I welcome that. As I have found no evidence of fault in this part of the complaint I have no grounds to criticise the Council.
42. In reaching that view I recognise Miss B says the Council failed to respond to her communications. I have identified a few occasions in the documentary evidence where the Council failed to respond to Miss B. That is fault. I am satisfied this has caused Miss B distress and led to her going to time and trouble to pursue her complaint.
43. Miss B says the Council failed to act when she told it her landlord was evicting her in August 2022. The evidence I have seen satisfies me Miss B’s landlord told the Council in July 2022 it intended to evict Miss B. At that point the landlord told the Council it intended to take back the property at the end of August. I am satisfied the Council contacted the landlord about that. The Council’s communications with the landlord show it raised concerns about whether it would be able to rehouse Miss B at the end of August. I am also satisfied the Council placed Miss B’s case on the transfer list to move to alternative temporary accommodation. That resulted in the Council offering Miss B alternative temporary accommodation at the end of November 2022, which Miss B did not accept. I therefore do not consider the Council failed to take any action.
44. In any event, Miss B’s landlord did not evict her at the end of August 2022 and the Council provided alternative temporary accommodation in February 2023, when Miss B was still living in the previous temporary accommodation. However, I am concerned there is no evidence the Council liaised with Miss B to explain to her the action it was taking, with the exception of when it offered her accommodation in November 2022. Nor is there any evidence the Council made any attempt to reassure Miss B her tenancy would not end at the end of August 2022. That is fault. I consider that likely caused Miss B unnecessary uncertainty and distress.
45. Miss B says the Council failed to provide her with any help when she identified her own private rented accommodation in October 2022. Miss B says the Council failed to contact the potential landlord to outline the financial incentives the Council could provide and this led to her losing the property.
46. Having considered the documentary evidence there is nothing to suggest Miss B provided the Council with details of the landlord for the property she had identified. In those circumstances I cannot criticise the Council for not contacting the landlord. I am satisfied though the Council told Miss B what financial incentives it could pay to the landlord if she was able to secure the property. I am also satisfied the Council carried out an affordability check to establish whether the property was affordable. I have seen no evidence to suggest Miss B returned to the Council following that affordability check to say she intended to accept the property.
47. I note though in February 2023 when Miss B identified a potential private landlord the Council asked for details of that landlord so it could make contact about the incentives on offer. There is no evidence the Council did that for the landlord identified in August 2022. Given the Council asked for the information with the later landlord I see no reason why it should not have asked Miss B for that information in October 2022. In those circumstances I consider the Council’s failure to ask Miss B for details of the private landlord in October 2022 fault.
48. I do not consider it likely though that impacted on the outcome for Miss B or led to her losing the opportunity to move into private rented accommodation. That is because I am satisfied there were other issues the Council could not resolve with the landlord identified in October 2022 as that landlord also required a guarantor, which the Council could not provide. Miss B has also made clear she cannot afford private rented accommodation because she would have to contribute too much of her income to support a private sector rent. So, while I consider the Council at fault for not asking for details of the private sector landlord in October 2022 I do not consider that resulted in an injustice to Miss B.
49. Miss B says the Council wrongly told her to put in a homeless application to Bexley Council. Miss B says the Council should have known if she left her temporary accommodation and approached Bexley as homeless it would have treated her as intentionally homeless. I believe Miss B is referring here to the complaint response from the Council. In that complaint response the Council told Miss B if she wanted to seek accommodation in Bexley she would need to close her homeless application with the Council and approach Bexley as homeless instead. The letter goes on to say though if Miss B did that she would have to cancel her temporary accommodation and make herself intentionally homeless. I am therefore satisfied the Council gave Miss B the right information, including the implications of making a homeless application to Bexley. I note the Council though, in its response to my enquiry, says it would not provide that advice. Clearly it did but as it qualified the advice by providing details of the implications if Miss B pursued that route I do not record that as fault.
50. Miss B says the Council failed to award her a star on the housing register to reflect the fact she was homeless and failed to tell her about how to apply for an employment star. The Council accepts it failed to award a homelessness star to Miss B until January 2023. That is fault. The Council says though between 2016 and 2022 Miss B only bid on two properties on the Council’s housing register. The Council says although the homelessness star would have improved Miss B’s position on the housing register it would not have led to her securing either of those properties. In those circumstances although the delay awarding the homelessness star is fault I do not consider this resulted in a significant injustice to Miss B.
51. For the employment star, the process for that works a little differently. I am satisfied Miss B would have had to apply for an employment star for it to be awarded. Having considered the documentary evidence I note when Miss B applied for housing in 2016 she told the Council she was unemployed. In those circumstances there was no reason for the Council to tell her about how to apply for the employment star. There is no evidence though the Council told Miss B about the availability of an employment star in future if she were to start work. As a result, there was no reason for Miss B to know she needed to apply for an employment star once she started work and had been continuously employed for nine months. Failing to give Miss B sufficient information at the outset of her homeless application is fault.
52. I am satisfied when writing to the Council about rent arrears in 2017 Miss B told the Council she was employed. In 2019 Miss B, again in correspondence about her rent arrears, told the Council she had been in employment for more than a year. I have seen no evidence the Council told Miss B at that point about how to apply for the employment star, which she was potentially entitled to. As the officers dealing with Miss B knew she was in temporary accommodation I would have expected them to have at least directed Miss B to the information on the Council’s website or referred her to another officer to establish whether she qualified for additional priority on the housing register. Failure to discuss with Miss B the possibility of an employment star at those points and failure to refer Miss B to the allocations policy to see whether she would qualify is therefore fault. I do not consider it likely though this resulted in Miss B missing out on a property before 2022 given she only bid on one property in July 2017.
53. There was then a further opportunity for the Council to tell Miss B about how she could apply for an employment star in October 2022 when she was discussing with the Council the possibility of a private rented property. When Miss B completed a financial assessment form for that property she told the Council she was employed and had been for more than a year. Under the terms of the Council’s allocations policy an applicant is entitled to an employment star once they have been continuously employed for more than nine months, working more than 16 hours a week. It appears, based on the information Miss B provided to the Council in October 2022, Miss B qualified for an employment star at that point. Failing to tell Miss B about how to apply for the employment star is therefore fault.
54. I am satisfied that delayed the employment star being added onto Miss B’s housing register application until 2023. I do not consider it likely though Miss B missed out on a property due to that fault. That is because the evidence I have seen satisfies me Miss B only applied for one Council property in 2022 and she applied for that property in October 2022, at around the same time the financial assessment was carried out. Given Miss B would have had to apply for the employment star and provide evidence to satisfy the Council she qualified for the star I do not consider it likely that process would have been completed in time for the property applied for in October 2022. So, again, while I consider the Council at fault I do not consider that resulted in an injustice to Miss B.
55. Miss B says the Council failed to give her any information about the affordability of private renting. Miss B says the Council did not tell her she could be entitled to more housing benefit if she identified a two-bedroom private sector property to move into. Having considered the documentary evidence I have not identified any discussion with Miss B about the option of private renting and the likely costs involved until Miss B identified private rented properties she was interested in. At that stage the Council completed a financial assessment of affordability which included advice about the likely housing benefit available.
56. I recognise it would have been helpful for Miss B to have understood the potential cost of a two bedroom private rented property and availability of housing benefit at the outset. However, rents can vary between areas and properties and I therefore do not consider it fault for the Council to fail to tell Miss B about any potential housing benefit entitlement she might be entitled to should she identify a property. Instead, I am satisfied the Council did what I would have expected it to in carrying out affordability assessment when Miss B identified a private rented property. I therefore do not consider the Council at fault here. I also note Miss B has since said she is unable to afford private rented properties because she cannot afford the approximately £400 a month she is likely to have to pay towards the rent. In those circumstances even if the Council had given Miss B information at the outset I do not consider it would have affected her ability to secure a property.
57. To reflect the distress experienced by Miss B in relation to the areas on which I have found fault (failure to communicate properly with Miss B, failure to ask for landlord details in October 2022 and delay putting stars on Miss B’s housing register application) I recommended the Council apologise to Miss B and pay her £300. That amount reflects my view that although Miss B likely experienced some distress the outcome for her would not have been different had there been no fault by the Council. I also recommended the Council consider how to ensure homeless applicants for whom it has accepted a duty know how to apply for an employment star if they become employed while they are registered on the Council’s housing register. I also recommended the Council remind officers dealing with homeless applicants of the need to signpost them to the Council’s allocations policy and how to apply for an employment star should it appear they might be entitled to it. The Council has agreed to my recommendations.

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Agreed action

58. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Miss B;
• pay Miss B £300;
• remind officers dealing with homeless applicants of the need to signpost them to the Council’s allocations policy for information on how to apply for an employment star should it appear they are entitled to it or in case they qualify for it whilst still on the housing register.
59. The Council should. within two months of my decision, consider how to ensure homeless applicants are aware of the availability of an employment star should they qualify for it or become qualified for it at a later stage in their housing register application.

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Final decision

60. I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council in part of the complaint which caused Miss B an injustice. I am satisfied the action the Council will take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

61. Miss B says the Council placed her in a property which is too small for her and her family and failed to recognise that. I am satisfied the Council placed Miss B in the accommodation she is concerned about in 2016 following a homeless application. The accommodation the Council provided is therefore temporary accommodation. The Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction to consider any concerns Miss B has about the suitability of the temporary accommodation provided by the Council. That is because Miss B had the right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation provided. Miss B could then have appealed to a County Court on a point of law. For that reason this part of the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman