Summary: Miss X complains the Council delayed resolving issues with hot water and heating in her temporary accommodation. Miss X also says issues with damp in the bathroom remain unresolved. We found the Council failed to address issues about damp. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and investigate and respond to Miss X’s concerns about damp.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council:

• left her without hot water and heating for two months during the winter of 2022. Miss X says her baby has a kidney problem and is prone to infection and she was having to carry pans of hot water up and down the stairs, which she found difficult as she has pins in her hips;
• has not resolved issues with damp in the bathroom, which is having an adverse impact on her child’s health; and
• failed to respond to her complaint.

2. Miss X says this has significantly impacted their health and wellbeing.

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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. 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

5. I discussed the complaint with Miss X and considered the information she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response.
6. Miss X and the Council now have the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider all comments before I make a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness - suitability of accommodation

7. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance and has a priority need, the council has a legal duty to secure accommodation for their occupation. This is commonly referred to as the ‘main housing duty’.
8. There is a legal duty for authorities to ensure that accommodation provided under the main housing duty is “suitable” for the applicant and household members (section 206 Housing Act 1996).
9. When deciding if accommodation is suitable, authorities must have regard to various statutory provisions, including the Housing Act 2004 which identifies damp as a hazard.
10. Councils have a duty to keep the suitability of accommodation under review. An applicant may ask a council to reconsider the suitability of their current temporary accommodation at any time if their circumstances change (for example, if there is a change in their needs due to a medical condition or disability or an increase in the size of the household). An officer should then make a suitability decision. The officer may agree the accommodation is unsuitable and put the applicant on a transfer list. In that case, the applicant does not need to request a section 202 review.
11. The review must be carried out by someone who was not involved in the original decision and who is senior to the original decision maker. The reviewing officer needs to consider any information relevant to the period before the decision was made (even if only obtained afterwards) as well as any new relevant information the Council has obtained since the decision

Background

12. The Council moved Miss X into her current temporary accommodation in November 2021. Miss X lives there with her child who is one years old. The flat is leased from a housing provider, whom I shall call Company A, and they manage repairs to the property.
13. Miss X’s child has problems with his kidneys and is prone to infection. Miss X has pins in her hips and finds it difficult to use the stairs. The bathroom is located on the first floor.

What happened

14. Below is a brief chronology of events. It is not meant to show everything that happened.
15. On 22 November 2022, the block of flats where Miss X lived had no supply of hot water. The issue was resolved by Company A two days later.
16. On 25 November, Miss X reported the same issues to Company A. Miss X said other residents had access to hot water, but she did not.
17. The next day an employee from Company A attended Miss X’s property and checked the boiler. Miss X was advised to contact Company A and arrange an appointment for a plumber. Miss X left two voicemails for Company A stating she had no heating or hot water, and her son was unwell. Company A contacted Miss X and said as it was the weekend she would have to wait until 28 November for the landlord to approve the plumber.
18. A plumber attended Miss X’s property on 28 November and repaired the boiler. Miss X subsequently started to fill the bath to bathe her son, but the hot water cut out. Miss X reported the issue to Company A.
19. On 1 December, Miss X contacted Company A again. A plumber attended Miss X’s property the next day and said there was a fault with the boiler, but he couldn’t repair it as he was fully booked that day.
20. On 5 December, Miss X complained to the Council. Miss X said she had been left without heating and hot water for two weeks. Miss X asked the Council to move her to suitable accommodation or contact Company A to get the boiler repaired. Miss X said it was cold, her son was sick, and she could not bathe him. Miss X said the Council was aware of her son’s health condition.
21. Two days later, the Council responded to Miss X’s complaint. The Council said it had contacted Company A and requested they repair the boiler within 24 hours or provide details of the next course of action they intended to take to resolve the issue. The Council told Miss X it had contacted Company A.
22. On 9 December, Company A told Miss X an engineer would not be able to attend the property until late the following week. The Council contacted Company A and asked for a visit to be made sooner. It said, “we are going through extreme temperatures at the moment”.
23. On 14 December, Miss X said an engineer attended the property, but the issues remained unresolved. The Council sent a further email to Company A requesting an update. Company A responded stating that repair works had been completed.
24. In January 2023, Miss X complained to the Council again. Miss X said she had been left without heating and hot water for almost two months. She said the Council had failed to keep her informed and failed to offer her alternative accommodation where they could keep warm. Miss X said a severe weather warning had been issued and Company A had provided her with just one heater which did not heat up one room let alone a two-bedroom maisonette. Miss X said she had to boil water in pans so that she could give her son a bath and the steam had caused damp throughout the bathroom.
25. The Council did not respond to Miss X’s complaint but said it spoke to her on 1 February and Miss X confirmed the issues with heating and hot water had been resolved.
26. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman and said the Council had failed to address the issue of damp caused by boiling pans of water.

Analysis

27. The Council had to consider two separate issues in this case. That, Miss X was left without hot water and heating and the damp throughout the bathroom arising because of this.
28. Miss X attempted to resolve the fault with the boiler with Company A in the first instance. When Company A failed to resolve the issue Miss X escalated the matter to the Council. I do not find fault with the Council here. It was proactive in contacting Company A and asked it to prioritise the repairs.
29. Company A reported the repairs had been completed on 14 December 2022. It is not clear what happened after this time because Miss X did not contact the Council again until mid-January 2023. If Miss X continued to experience problems with her hot water and heating, I would have expected her to contact the Council sooner. I cannot find fault by the Council if it was not aware of ongoing issues between mid-December and mid-January. On 1 February, the Council contacted Miss X who confirmed that issues with the heating and hot water had been resolved.
30. There is no evidence the Council addressed the issue of damp in the bathroom nor that any inspection or repairs for the damp took place. The Council should have followed this up, but it did not do so. This is fault. I cannot say what conclusion the Council would have reached had it properly considered this matter. But it should have investigated Miss X’s concerns and then decided whether it needed to carry out remedial works. Its failure to do so has caused Miss X an injustice in the form of distress and uncertainty. I have made a recommendation regarding this below.

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Agreed action

31. To address the injustice caused by the faults identified, within one month of my final decision the Council will:
1. apologise to Miss X for the fault identified in paragraph 31;
2. pay Miss X £150 for the distress and uncertainly caused by the Council’s failure to respond to her issues about damp; and
3. investigate and respond to Miss X’s issues about damp.
32. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

33. I have found fault by the Council causing an injustice to Miss X. I have completed my investigation on this basis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman