Westminster City Council (22 011 515)

Category : Housing > Homelessness

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 28 Mar 2023

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Council was at fault for the way it handled Mr X’s homelessness application. This caused injustice as Mr X should have received suitable accommodation much sooner than he did. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment to him and carry out some service improvements.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains the Council delayed in providing him with assistance after he approached the Council as homeless.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. 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)
  3. 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

  1. As part of this investigation, I considered the information provided by Mr X. I discussed the complaint over the telephone with Mr X. I made enquires with the Council and considered the information received in response. I send a draft of this decision to Mr X and the Council and considered information and comments received in response.

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What I found

Law and guidance

  1. 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. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 was amended by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 with effect from 3 April 2018. This changed the law on homelessness and introduced new duties on councils.
  2. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the Council on or after 3 April 2018:
    • he or she is likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
    • he or she has been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5))
  3. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan (PHP). (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
  4. 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)
  5. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is called the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
  6. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
  7. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, has a priority need and is not homeless intentionally, 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). This is known as the main housing duty. 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)

What happened

  1. On 16 April 2021, Mr X completed a self-assessment form as he was homeless. This was following Mr X suffering a violent attack which left long term physical effects on Mr X.
  2. The Council carried out an assessed of Mr X’s needs on 28 April 2021. The notes from the assessment said Mr X had been staying in different addresses with family and friends on a temporary basis after he left his mother’s home a few years previously. The assessment said Mr X was currently staying with his mother but he did not feel he could comfortable remaining here. The assessment noted Mr X suffered a violent attack earlier in April 2021 and spent time in hospital. As a result Mr X needed help showering and putting on some clothing.
  3. The Council said it did not consider there was reason to believe Mr X was homeless at this point as he was staying at his mother’s property. The Council emailed Mr X with a list of documents for him to return, including a consent form so the Council could make enquiries into his living situation.
  4. On 16 November 2021, the Council received the documents it had asked Mr X to return.
  5. In January 2022, Mr X’s support worker wrote to the Council and asked it to provide him with interim accommodation. Mr X’s support worker said he was eligible for assistance, homeless and in priority need.
  6. On 1 March 2022, the Council accepted the relief duty towards Mr X. The Council also sent Mr X a PHP. The PHP said Mr X asked the Council to place him in shared accommodation in Westminster and that Mr X had no support needs. Mr X disputed this and said he did not ask the Council to place him into shared accommodation.
  7. Between March and August 2022, the records showed Mr X contacted the Council by telephone many times to speak with his caseworker. This included a time in July 2022, when Mr X told the Council he could not have shared accommodation due to his disability. Despite messages being left, Mr X’s caseworker did not contact him.
  8. On 22 August 2022, the Council allocated Mr X a new caseworker.
  9. Mr X raised a formal complaint with the Council on 1 September 2022. Mr X complained about the way the Council treated him since he asked for help in April 2021. Mr X said he could not live in shared accommodation due to his disability and explained some of the problems living in shared accommodation would cause. Mr X also complained about the length of time this process had taken and that he was still homeless and had no accommodation.
  10. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint on 15 September 2022. The Council said:
    • Mr X remained under the relief duty and there was a 35 week administrative delay on his application. This included a 15 week delay in accepting the relief duty after the Council received his consent form and a 20 week delay in ending the relief duty.
    • Mr X would likely qualify for the shared rate of accommodation unless he received the middle or higher care component of Disability Living Allowance or the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment.
    • It upheld Mr X’s complaint because of the delay on his application and his calls not being returned. The Council offered Mr X £450 compensation. £350 for the 35 weeks administrative delays at £10 per week and £100 for stress and inconvenience caused.
  11. On 25 September 2022, Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint at the next stage. Mr X said he did not qualify for shared accommodation as he received the necessary benefits which made him exempt. Mr X also said he was still homeless and this had not been resolved. Mr X sent the Council evidence of his Personal Independence Payments. This showed he had received Personal Independence Payments from at least July 2021.
  12. In November 2022, the Council provided its final response to Mr X’s complaint. The Council upheld the complaint and increased its compensation offer for the delays with the relief duty to £520.
  13. The Council also referred Mr X to an organisation to help find accommodation in the private rented sector in November 2022.
  14. In December 2022, the Council provided Mr X with temporary accommodation in a hotel room until it could find further suitable accommodation for Mr X.
  15. On 9 January 2023, the Council wrote to Mr X and told him it had ended the relief duty. The Council also wrote to Mr X and told him it owed him the main housing duty.

Analysis

  1. Mr X initially approached the Council in April 2021. At this time the Council carried out an assessment of his needs. The assessment did not explore Mr X’s housing needs or consider what accommodation would be suitable for him. This was fault. If the Council had done this it could have established with Mr X much earlier the exemptions needed to be eligible for self-contained accommodation and not shared accommodation.
  2. The Council also delayed in providing Mr X with the relief duty and a PHP. This was fault. While some of this delay was down to Mr X not returning the information requested from the Council, until November 2021, it still took the Council a further four months to provide Mr X with the relief duty and a PHP.
  3. The PHP the Council provided Mr X with did not specify a date when the Council would review it and the records do not show the Council reviewed Mr X’s PHP. In addition, the PHP said Mr X had no support needs, yet his assessment stated he did have support needs as he needed help with day to day things such as washing himself. This was also fault.
  4. From March 2022 until August 2022, the records show Mr X was trying to contact his caseworker to get updates with his housing, however he did not receive a response. This was fault. It was not until the Council re-allocated Mr X’s case to another caseworker did someone contact him about his homelessness situation. Had the Council returned Mr X’s calls it may have been able to resolve his homelessness situation sooner.
  5. The Council was also at fault for failing to consider whether it should have provided Mr X with interim accommodation. Mr X returned his consent form in November 2021. The Council would then have been able to make enquiries into his living situation to see whether there was reason to believe Mr X was homeless. On balance I am satisfied that the Council should have provided Mr X with interim accommodation from November 2021. This is based on the fact Mr X’s circumstances have not changed from his time to when the Council did eventually provide him with emergency accommodation in December 2022. After Mr X returned his consent form and other documents the Council should have been able to gather all of the evidence it needed to determine whether it had reason to believe Mr X was eligible, homeless and in priority need, however it did not appear to do this.
  6. As I have found fault, I need to consider what injustice this caused Mr X. I am satisfied that on balance Mr X would have been accommodated by the Council much sooner but for the above faults. As a result he has spent over a year either staying with different friends and family or sleeping in his car.
  7. I acknowledge the Council offered Mr X £520 in recognition of the delays with starting and ending the relief duty. This is welcomed, however I do not consider this goes far enough to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X. The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies says that where someone has been deprived of suitable accommodation our recommendation is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 per month. I consider that £300 per month is appropriate. In coming to this figure I have considered Mr X’s disability and that fact he had no suitable accommodation to stay at so had to move around with different family and friends or sleep in his car.

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Agreed action

  1. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
    • Apologise to Mr X for the faults identified.
    • Pay Mr X £3,900 for the time he was without suitable accommodation. This is made up of £300 per month from November 2021 until December 2022.
    • Pay Mr X £520 (offered during the complaints procedure) to recognise the delay in starting and ending the relief duty. The Council should only pay this to Mr X if he has not accepted it already.
  2. Within three months of my final decision the Council should carry out the following:
    • Ensure all Personalised Housing Plans contain a date specifying when they will be reviewed.
    • Consider what went wrong in this case and why there was such a delay in progressing Mr X’s homelessness application. The Council should consider what improvements it can make to its service to ensure such delays in processing a homelessness application do not occur again.
  3. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault for the way it handled Mr X’s homelessness application. This caused injustice. I have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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