Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. We found fault by the Council causing distress and uncertainty to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to provide an apology and a financial remedy to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. She complained the Council:
1. Did not properly assess her homelessness application when she approached it in 2022,
2. Told her it did not receive the documents she provided in support of her homelessness application, and
3. Closed her homelessness application without telling her.
2. Mrs X says the Council’s actions have caused her considerable distress and have left her with nowhere to live. She would like the Council to offer her somewhere to live.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation 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 organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated the above complaint for the period March 2022 to April 2023. I have not investigated events after this date. This is because events after April 2023 are new and separate to the matters complained about to the Council and which were subsequently brought to the Ombudsman.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered the information she provided.
8. I made enquiries to the Council and considered the information it provided.
9. Mrs X and the Council have had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and statutory guidance

10. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (the Act) and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
11. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:
• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days;
• or they have been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5)
12. Section 177(1) of the Act says it is not reasonable for a person to continue to occupy accommodation if it is likely that this will lead to violence or domestic abuse against them, or against a person who normally lives with them or might be expected to live with them.
13. If someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to obtain accommodation and gives ‘reason to believe’ they ‘may be’ homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to make inquiries into what, if any, further duty it owes them. The threshold for triggering the duty to make inquiries is low. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular department of the council. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5)
14. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
15. After completing inquiries, the council must give the applicant a decision in writing. If it is an adverse decision, the letter must fully explain the reasons. All letters must include information about the right to request a review and the timescale for doing so. (Housing Act 1996, section 184, from 3 April 2018 Homelessness Code of Guidance 18.32 and 18.33)
16. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of certain decisions, including:
• eligibility for assistance;
• what duty (if any) is owed to them if they are found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness;
17. Certain decisions on homelessness can be challenged by the complainant seeking a review and then exercising their right of appeal to the county court on a point of law. 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)

What happened

18. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
19. Mrs X approached the Council in March 2022 to ask for help in finding somewhere to live. Mrs X also made an application to the Council’s housing register. Mrs X told the Council she was fleeing domestic abuse and asked the Council to help her find a property. Mrs X completed a risk assessment regarding her report of domestic abuse. The Council referred Mrs X to a local domestic abuse charity and solicitor.
20. The Council closed its case shortly after Mrs X contacted it as it says it received no further contact.
21. Shortly after, Mrs X contacted her MP because she was unhappy with the Council’s decision to decline her housing application. She said the Council had declined her application because she had not lived in the area for the length of time specified in its allocations policy. Mrs X said the Council had not addressed the matter regarding her approach to the Council as a victim of domestic abuse. Mrs X’s MP forwarded her correspondence to a local councillor, who asked the Council to respond.
22. The Council responded to the councillor’s enquiry. It acknowledged Mrs X had reported she was fleeing domestic abuse and that it had closed its case due to no further contact. The Council said it would contact Mrs X again to see if she needed any further support. It also clarified that victims of abuse can approach any council for housing assistance even if they have never lived in the area. The Council said this, however, did not apply to its housing register, unless it had accepted the full homeless duty to provide housing.
23. In May 2022, Mrs X completed a self-referral homelessness application and a new application to the Council’s housing register. At around the same time, Mrs X’s landlord issued her with a Section 21 notice to leave the property.
24. In July 2022, the Council asked Mrs X to provide documentary evidence in support of her housing application and her homelessness application. Mrs X replied on the same day and provided documents in support of her applications.
25. The Council’s housing team acknowledged receipt of the documents but asked Mrs X to provide some further information.
26. In August 2022, the Council closed its homelessness application because the homelessness team did not receive the documents it requested in July 2022.

Mrs X’s complaint

27. Mrs X complained to the Council in August 2022. She said she had approached the Council in March 2022, but her application was refused. Mrs X also complained she had provided the documents requested by the Council but had received no contact.
28. The Council replied to Mrs X but did not uphold her complaint. It said the homelessness team had asked Mrs X to provide supporting documents but had not received any contact. The Council said Mrs X would need to submit a new homelessness application. It also said Mrs X’s application to the housing register was suspended as it still required additional documentation.
29. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two. She said the homelessness team had not provided an email address for her to send her documents, so she had sent them to the email address for her housing application.
30. The Council provided its stage two response in August 2022. It acknowledged Mrs X had provided her documents to the housing application team but said because the homelessness team had not received them, it had closed Mrs X’s homeless approach in line with its procedures. The Council said it would progress Mrs X’s application to the housing register once she provided the additional documents. The Council said Mrs X should complete a new homelessness application.
31. Mrs X says the Council made several further document requests despite her sending the information to it.
32. In October 2022, Mrs X completed a further homelessness application.

What happened next

33. In January 2023, the Council sent a homelessness decision letter to Mrs X informing her it had completed its enquiries. The Council said it decided Mrs X was not eligible for assistance because she had not provided proof of her identity in the prescribed form.
34. Shortly after, Mrs X made a further homelessness application. Mrs X provided a copy of an eviction notice in support of her application.
35. Mrs X says she called the Council a month before she was due to be evicted. She says the Council told her to call again on the day of eviction.
36. Mrs X called the Council on the day of her eviction. The Council says it had no reason to believe Mrs X had priority need at that time and therefore it did not offer interim accommodation.
37. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s complaint response and brought her complaint to us.
38. In April 2023, the Council sent Mrs X a decision letter. It said it was satisfied Mrs X was eligible for assistance and was homeless, but it had no reason to believe she had priority need. As a result, the Council said it would not offer emergency accommodation. The Council told Mrs X it had accepted the relief duty and that it would take reasonable steps over the next 56 days to help her secure accommodation. The Council clarified this did not mean it was the Council’s responsibility to secure accommodation, but it would offer to help.

Analysis - Mrs X’s complaint that the Council did not properly assess her homelessness application when she approached it in 2022

39. The Council confirms it did not take a homelessness application from Mrs X in March 2022. As a result, it did not issue a decision letter. The Council says the case was assessed correctly by an experienced domestic abuse support worker who conducted enquiries with the Police and made referrals to a local domestic abuse charity and a solicitor, so that Mrs X could seek further advice.
40. As stated at paragraph 13, if a council has reason to believe someone is homeless or threatened with homelessness, then it has a duty to make inquiries. This is to establish if the person is eligible for assistance and what, if any, duty it owes. Councils must give applicants a decision in writing after completing inquiries and must include information about the right to request a review of the decision.
41. Mrs X told the Council she was a victim of domestic abuse. As stated above at paragraph 12, Section 177(1) of the Act says it is not reasonable for a person to continue to occupy accommodation if it is likely that this will lead to violence or domestic abuse against them, or against a person who normally lives with them or might be expected to live with them.
42. The information provided to the Council by Mrs X in March 2022 was sufficient to provide a reason to believe she was threatened with homelessness when considering S177(1). This is because the Council recorded that Mrs X was fleeing domestic abuse and recorded the details of an alleged assault. As a result, the Council should have made inquiries to establish if Mrs X was eligible and if the Council owed a duty to her.
43. I acknowledge the Council says it considered the risk assessment that was completed at the time, made inquiries to the Police regarding the alleged assault, and subsequently decided the risk did not give rise to homelessness. However, the Council should have provided its decision in writing, in line with the Act and the code of guidance, to explain its reasons and provide information about the right to request a review. The Council’s failure to do so is fault.

Mrs X’s complaint the Council told her it did not receive the documents she provided in support of her homelessness application

44. The Council acknowledges Mrs X did provide the documents requested but sent them to the email address for her housing register application. The Council says the information was attached to the housing register file without the knowledge of the homelessness team.

45. The Council’s records confirm it closed Mrs X’s homelessness case in August 2022 because it said she had not provided the information. The Council acknowledges it sent a text to Mrs X in July 2022 to request the documentation;

Mrs X says she sent it to the email address for her housing register application because the text did not provide an email address for the homelessness team. As part of our enquiries, the Council has acknowledged it did not confirm where Mrs X should send the documents.

46. We expect Council’s to employ a joined-up working approach, including between their housing functions. The Council’s records show it closed the case due to no contact from Mrs X, when in fact, it had received the information on the same day it requested it. I acknowledge Mrs X provided the documentation to a different team, but I also acknowledge her reasons for doing so. The Council as a body, was in possession of the information it requested from Mrs X. As a result, the Council is at fault for closing Mrs X’s application on the grounds she did not provide the information it requested.

Mrs X’s complaint the Council closed her homelessness application without telling her

47. The Council confirms it did not notify Mrs X when it closed her application in March 2022. The Council says that where a victim of domestic abuse fails to maintain contact, it will not send notification that their approach has been closed, due to the risk that the perpetrator may have access to their phone or email account. Regarding the closure in August 2022, the Council has acknowledged it did not notify Mrs X.

48. The Council says it considered Mrs X’s approach in June/July 2022 was not an “official” homelessness application. However, the approach appears to meet the low threshold specified by section 184 of the Act. This is because the homelessness team triaged Mrs X’s approach and requested further information. It is unlikely the Council would have triaged the application and requested further information if it did not have reason to believe Mrs X may be homeless. Therefore, the Council should have issued a section 184 decision letter to Mrs X in August 2022, providing her with the right to request a review of the decision. The Council’s failure to do so is fault.

49. The Council acknowledges its text message to Mrs X in July 2022 did not confirm where Mrs X should send her documents. The Council says it will be amending its processes to ensure that when requests are made by the triage team, it clearly states which department the information should be sent to, and how this can be done. The Council also says it will ensure that when an application is closed, it notifies the applicant immediately. It is positive the Council has itself identified service improvements as part of its response to our enquiries. However, these do not fully address the injustice to Mrs X.

50. Mrs X says the Councils actions caused her avoidable distress. The fault identified also contributed to Mrs X’s frustration regarding her explanation that she had provided the information requested of her. In addition, the failure to provide decision letters led to uncertainty about whether the outcome may have been different had the Council informed Mrs X of her right to request a review.

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Agreed action

51. To address the injustice to Mrs X, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Mrs X for the fault identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings;
2. Make a symbolic payment of £750 to Mrs X in recognition of the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by the fault;
3. Remind staff of the importance of issuing decisions in writing in line with section 184 of the Housing Act 1996, to provide a full explanation if the decision is adverse, and including information about the right to request a review, and the timescale for doing so, and
4. Review the Council’s processes to ensure relevant information provided by housing/homelessness applicants is shared where necessary between the different housing functions.
52. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

53. I have found fault by the Council causing distress and uncertainty to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to take the above action to resolve the complaint. I have therefore concluded my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman