Summary: Miss X complains that the Council wrongly advised her to remain in her property until evicted and provided unsuitable interim accommodation to her. The Council is not at fault for advising Miss X to stay in her property until the section 21 notice expired. The Council is at fault as it did not comply with its duty to provide suitable interim accommodation to Miss X and her children which caused them to live in unsuitable accommodation for 14 weeks. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Miss X and making a payment of £2800 to her.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council:

• advised her to remain in her property until she was evicted rather than accepting the relief duty and providing interim accommodation to her and her children which caused distress to her.
• placed her in bed and breakfast accommodation which is unsuitable for her and her children’s mental health and medical needs. This was detrimental to Miss X’s mental health and caused her family to be split up as her son could not live in the interim accommodation due to his needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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

4. I have:

• considered the complaint and the information provided by Miss X;
• discussed the issues with Miss X;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• invited Miss X and the Council to comment on the draft decision. I considered the comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

5. 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)

6. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
7. 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)
8. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
9. Bed and breakfast accommodation can only be used for households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks. B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned by the council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and from 3 April 2018 Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.32)
10. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of certain decisions. This includes the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted (and the suitability of accommodation offered under section 200(3) and section 193). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.
11. A section 21 notice can be served by a landlord to bring a tenancy to an end. The notice must give at a notice period of at least two months. A landlord can only apply to the courts for possession of the property after the notice period ends.

What happened

12. The following is a summary of the key facts relevant to my consideration of the complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
13. Miss X has significant mental health conditions. Miss X’s daughter has significant physical health conditions and her son has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
14. In February 2023, Miss X approached the Council for assistance as her landlord had served a section 21 notice to bring her tenancy to an end. The Council carried out a homelessness assessment and accepted the prevention duty.
15. The Council’s records note a medical professional contacted the Council on behalf of Miss X regarding her housing. The Council’s records note it advised Miss X could stay at her property until the section 21 notice expired.
16. Miss X made a complaint to the Council. She considered the Council had not provided sufficient help with her impending eviction. She also complained officers told her that her mental health conditions would not be taken into account when arranging temporary accommodation. The Council did not uphold her complaint. It advised the demand for temporary accommodation was extremely high. The Council tried to take individual circumstances into account but temporary accommodation could be anywhere. It also explained families may be placed in bed and breakfast accommodation until more suitable accommodation could be found.
17. In late April 2023, Miss X approached the Council again when the section 21 notice was due to expire. The Council placed Miss X and her children in interim accommodation which was a bed and breakfast hotel. A few days later the Council carried out a suitability assessment which concluded the accommodation was not suitable due to Miss X’s mental health conditions and her son’s ASC and ADHD. A number of professionals supporting Miss X contacted the Council to advise the bed and breakfast accommodation was unsuitable and was causing Miss X’s mental health to deteriorate.
18. Miss X informed the Council that her son had moved to his grandmother’s property as he could not cope with living in bed and breakfast accommodation.
19. The Council’s records show it identified a self contained two bedroom flat for Miss X and her family in mid June 2023. The Council did not secure this flat for Miss X and I understand it was later considered to be unsuitable for Miss X’s needs as she required a three bedroom property.
20. In mid July 2023, the Council accepted the main housing duty for Miss X. A few days later it offered temporary accommodation to Miss X which is a three bedroom property.

Analysis

Advising Miss X to stay at her property until evicted.

21. The Council advised Miss X that she could stay in her property until the expiry of the section 21 notice. This is not fault as Miss X’s tenancy did not end until the expiry of the section 21 notice. So, she could reasonably occupy her property until the section 21 notice expired.

Suitability of bed and breakfast accommodation for Miss X and her family

22. The law provides that bed and breakfast accommodation is not suitable for families and councils should only place them in bed and breakfast accommodation as a last resort. The Council placed Miss X and her children in the bed and breakfast as a last resort. But I consider the Council is at fault for not moving Miss X and her children following the suitability assessment. The Council’s records show it considered the accommodation was unsuitable so it should have immediately moved Miss X and her children to suitable interim accommodation. There is no evidence to show the Council took any action to find alternative interim accommodation for Miss X and her children until mid June 2023. It did not offer suitable alternative accommodation for Miss X until mid July 2023. This is fault.
23. The Council also had a duty to move Miss X and her children to alternative interim accommodation after they had been in the bed and breakfast accommodation for six weeks.
24. I therefore consider the Council failed to comply with its duty to provide suitable accommodation for Miss X and her children. As a result Miss X and her children had to live in unsuitable accommodation for 14 weeks. This caused distress and had a significant impact on Miss X’s mental health as she was unable to readily access her support network. It also made it more difficult to care for her daughter and the family unit had to separate as her son could not live at the bed and breakfast accommodation due to his needs. Miss X also could not access the shared kitchen due to her mental health conditions so incurred costs in buying take away food. The Council should remedy this injustice. Our guidance on remedies provides that we may recommend a remedy in the range of £100 to £200 per week for the time spent in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation. I consider it is proportionate to recommend a payment of £200 per week in view of the impact on Miss X and her children.
25. The Council is taking action to reduce the time families spend in bed and breakfast accommodation so it is not necessary to recommend a service improvement in this area.
26. The Council’s letter notifying Miss X of its decision to accept the main housing duty did not inform her of her right to seek a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation. This is fault but I do not consider it caused significant injustice to Miss X as the Council offered alternative temporary accommodation to her. I note the Council has taken action to ensure it includes a person’s review rights in its decision letters. But the Council should ensure Miss X is aware of her right to seek a review of the suitability of the alternative temporary accommodation offered in July 2023 if it did not notify her of this right when it offered the accommodation.

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Agreed action

27. That the Council will:
1. Send a written apology and makes a payment of £2800 to Miss X to acknowledge the distress caused to her and her children by living in unsuitable accommodation for 14 weeks. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
2. Notify Miss X of her right to seek a review of the suitability of the temporary accommodation offered to her in July 2023.
28. The Council should take this action within one month of my final decision. It should also provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

29. Fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman