Summary: Miss F complained she and her family had been housed in unsuitable accommodation. We found fault as they remained in bed and breakfast accommodation for longer than six weeks. This caused distress, affected her children’s education and led to extra costs for storage and food. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to remedy this injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss F complained she and her family had been housed in unsuitable accommodation.
2. She said this had affected her mental health, sleep and her children’s education. Miss F also says she has had to pay more for food due to no cooking facilities and £500 per month for storage. Miss F wanted the Council to provide suitable accommodation and compensation.

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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. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
6. 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

7. I considered the information Miss F sent and the Council’s response to my enquiries.
8. Miss F and the Council 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

Homelessness relevant law and guidance

9. 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.
10. If someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to get 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5)
11. Whilst making these inquiries, a council must secure accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This is called interim accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 188). People with dependent children are in priority need.

Threatened with homelessness

12. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council:
• 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))

Prevention and relief duties

13. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. These steps should follow an assessment and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. This is the prevention duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
14. Once the Council has accepted it owes the prevention duty, it must help the person for at least 56 days.
15. If the person becomes homeless, the Council must help to secure suitable accommodation if it is satisfied that an applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance. (Housing Act 1996, section189B) This is the relief duty.
16. The relief duty usually ends 56 days after the council became subject to the duty, even if the applicant has not found accommodation. It can only be ended in certain circumstances, including if the applicant refuses an offer of suitable accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section189B(7)(c))

Main housing duty

17. The relief duty ends automatically after 56 days from when it was accepted if the local authority is satisfied that the applicant is in priority need and not homeless intentionally. (Housing Act 1996, section189B(4))
18. The Council must then issue a decision letter that it accepts the main housing duty. The council has a duty to secure accommodation that is available for their occupation. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)

Suitability of temporary accommodation

19. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206)
20. Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the council to review the accommodation’s suitability. Councils must complete the review within eight weeks of receiving the review request. (Housing Act 1996, section 202)
21. If the applicant is still dissatisfied following a review of the suitability of the accommodation, they can appeal to the county court on a point of law. Applicants can also appeal if a council takes more than the prescribed time to complete the review. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)
22. If the council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the council must provide suitable accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)
23. Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation. It should only be used as a last resort in an emergency and then for the shortest time possible. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.24 and 17.30)
24. B&B accommodation can only be used for households which include a dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks.
25. B&B is defined as 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. This means hotels are included in the legal definition of B&Bs. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.32)

What happened

26. Miss F has children, one of whom has autism and one who was in their GCSE year. She contacted the Council on 30 September 2022 to say that she was being evicted.
27. The Council accepted the prevention duty on 24 October 2022. It gave Miss F advice on finding accommodation and there is evidence it also searched for suitable accommodation.
28. Miss F was evicted on 1 March 2023. The Council placed her and her four children in a hotel as interim accommodation. At this point the relief duty started.
29. On 31 March, Miss F asked the Council to review the suitability of her interim accommodation but the Council had no duty to. The Council’s case records show it made efforts to find accommodation, and some offers were made to Miss F, but none were suitable due to location or size or affordability. Miss F was paying £500 per month to store her possessions.
30. The relief duty automatically ended after 56 days on 26 April. The Council did not issue a decision letter about whether it accepted the main housing duty.
31. Miss F complained to the Council and came to the Ombudsman, but it was too soon for us to investigate as the Council had not yet responded to her complaint.
32. The Council started paying for Miss F’s meals on 20 July. It issued a decision letter accepting the relief duty on 15 August.
33. The Council replied to Miss F’s complaint on 25 August. It apologised for the way her case had been handled and said it would assess the suitability of her accommodation.
34. The Council issued a decision letter accepting the main housing duty on 4 September. This letter was addressed to Miss F’s previous address and said the Council considered her accommodation to be suitable.
35. Miss F came back to the Ombudsman. Her and her solicitor continued to chase the Council to find suitable accommodation.
36. The Council’s suitability review was concluded on 11 October. It found the hotel was not suitable accommodation. Miss F accepted the offer of a suitable property on 2 November.

My findings

37. The Council placed Miss F and her children in unsuitable interim accommodation on 1 March. The law says families can only stay in accommodation with shared facilities for a maximum of six weeks. Miss F and her family were in the hotel from 1 March to 2 November 2023. This is 30 weeks longer than the regulations allow. This is fault. This fault caused distress and had a significant impact on their well-being and education. They incurred costs in storage and buying take away food. This is an injustice.
38. The Council delayed accepting the main housing duty for Miss F. The Council accepted the relief duty on 24 October 2022. The Council should have ended this duty after 56 days, on 26 April 2023. The Council should then have decided if it owed Miss F the main housing duty and issued this decision letter on 27 April. The Council did not do this until September 2023. A council can only extend the relief duty if it needs more information to make a main duty decision. That was not the case here, so this is fault.
39. This delay caused Miss F uncertainty about whether alternative temporary accommodation could have been found sooner and frustrated her right to request a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation.
40. When we have evidence of fault causing injustice we will seek a remedy for that injustice which aims to put the complainant back in the position they would have been in if nothing had gone wrong. When this is not possible, we will normally consider asking for a symbolic payment to acknowledge the avoidable distress caused. But our remedies are not intended to be punitive and we do not award compensation in the way that a court might. Our guidance on remedies provides that we may recommend a remedy up to £200 per week for each week over the six-week limit 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 F and her children.
41. The Council says it currently has over 100 families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation. It is taking action to reduce the time families spend in bed and breakfast accommodation and contacts accommodation providers daily to increase supply, so it is not necessary to recommend a service improvement.

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Agreed action

42. Within a month of my final decision, the Council has agreed to apologise to Miss F and pay her £6,000 to remedy the injustice caused.
43. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

44. There was fault by the Council. The actions the Council has agreed to take remedy the injustice caused. I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman