Summary: Ms B complained the Council delayed telling her she would need to pay rent for interim accomodation. She says because of this, she accrued rent arrears and was delayed from bidding on the housing register. We found fault with the Council for delays telling Ms B she was liable to pay rent for interim accomodation and accepting the main housing duty. To remedy the injustice caused to Ms B by these faults, the Council will make a financial remedy. It will also make service improvements.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Ms B, complained the Council delayed telling her she would need to pay rent for interim accomodation. She says because of this, she accrued rent arrears and was delayed from bidding on the housing register.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. An organisation should not adopt a blanket or uniform approach or policy that prevents it from considering the circumstances of a particular case. We may find fault in the actions of organisations that ‘fetter their discretion’ in this way.
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 considered:
• Ms B’s complaint and the information she provided;
• documents supplied by the Council;
• relevant legislation and guidelines; and
• the Council’s policies and procedures.
6. Ms B and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and Guidance

7. Relief duty: Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has ended, it must tell the applicant in writing. The relief duty lasts a maximum of 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
8. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need 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). 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)
9. 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)
10. If a council is satisfied an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
11. The council may require the applicant to pay reasonable charges in respect of the accommodation it secures (Housing Act 1996, section 206(2)).
12. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))

Council’s allocations scheme

13. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which it advertises.
14. Applicants will be eligible to bid for properties available to their priority group list if, following assessment by the housing solutions service:
• they are placed in one of the priority groups
• they are not in arrears of rent/occupation charges
• they have not been excluded from bidding for any other reason
15. Applicants with rent/service charge arrears or temporary accommodation charge arrears will be suspended from and unable to participate in Choice Based Lettings. They will continue to be able to view property advertisements but will be unable to bid unless and until the arrears are cleared. They will also be ineligible to be made direct offers of accommodation.
16. The director of housing may exercise discretion in exceptional circumstances to allow applicants with rent/service charge or temporary accommodation charge arrears to bid or to receive offers.
17. Westminster secure tenants of general needs studios are eligible to move to one-bedroom properties. Studio applicants can apply for a transfer to a one-bedroom property after living in their studio property for a year. To qualify, tenants must successfully complete one year as an introductory tenant, give access for pre-vacation inspection, viewings, and sign ups, and keep their homes in good repair and decorative order. Tenants with rent arrears are excluded.

What happened

18. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
19. Ms B made a homelessness application in September 2022. She said she was fleeing domestic abuse. The Council accepted the relief duty. The Council offered Ms B interim accommodation which she accepted and moved into.
20. The Council gave Ms B a booking pack in November 2022. This pack explained everyone it placed in accommodation had to pay towards the cost. It told her how much the rent was for her accommodation.
21. Ms B’s support worker contacted the Council in December 2022 and asked it for instructions for Ms B to pay her rent. The Council sent instructions and a form for Ms B to complete.
22. The same day, the Council sent Ms B a bill for over £2,000 in rent arrears. It said since she had moved into interim accommodation, she had failed to make adequate payments towards her accommodation charges. It told her she should arrange to pay the arrears in full immediately. It said failure to pay could result in her accommodation being terminated.
23. The Council wrote to Ms B again in January and February 2023 asking her to pay her rent arrears.
24. Ms B complained to the Council. The Council responded at stage one of its complaint procedure in March 2023. It upheld her complaint and apologised. It accepted it did not issue the booking pack when she moved into interim accommodation and delayed providing her with information about how to pay her rent. It said, however, applicants living in interim accommodation were expected to pay the costs of the accommodation during their stay. It noted that since it gave her information about how to pay her rent, she had done so. It encouraged her to make a housing benefit claim and said she could ask the Council to arrange a re-payment plan for her arrears. It offered to pay Ms B £150 compensation for the delay.
25. In April 2023, Ms B asked the Council to consider her complaint at stage two. She said although the Council upheld her complaint, it did not resolve her arrears or the anxiety being in arrears caused.
26. The Council accepted the main housing duty to Ms B in April 2023. It wrote to tell her in May 2023. It told her it had put her on its homeless persons’ priority register for a studio property. It said studio applicants could apply for a transfer to a one-bedroom property after living in their studio property for a year. It said it had added 150 points to her housing application because she was homeless when she applied for the housing register. It told her how to bid on the housing register. It said she would not be able to bid while she was in rent arrears. It advised if she did not get a tenancy within 12 months, it would offer her a suitable property and if she refused it without a good reason, its housing duty would end.
27. The Council responded at stage two of its complaints procedure in May 2023. It partially upheld Ms B’s complaint. It apologised for its delay issuing her with a booking pack and sending her a rent arrears letter. It encouraged her to pay her rent arrears and said it could set up a payment plan. It said she would not be able to bid on the housing register while she had rent arrears of more than £1,000.
28. In June 2023, Ms B took out a loan to pay off her arrears. The Council lifted the restriction on her housing application, and she could bid on the housing register.

Analysis

29. The Council accepts it delayed telling Ms B about the charges for her temporary accommodation and how to pay and because of this, she accrued rent arrears. I have considered whether the Council’s offer of £150 remedied the injustice to Ms B.
30. In response to enquiries, the Council said it did not consider using its discretion to write off Ms B’s rent arrears because there were no exceptional reasons for doing so. I disagree. As the Council accepted, Ms B accrued rent arrears because of its delay. In addition, she reported that she was in significant debt because of financial abuse within the domestically abusive relationship she fled. These circumstances are exceptional and therefore, the Council should have considered using its discretion to write off her arrears. The Council did not, and this was fault.
31. It was the Council’s responsibility to tell Ms B she had to pay rent and how much it was. Ms B was unfamiliar with the homelessness system and was reliant on the Council to give her this information. The Council did not give Ms B this information until nine weeks after she had moved into interim accommodation. This delay was fault. Without this fault, Ms B would have known nine weeks earlier she had to pay rent and could have avoided accruing arrears and the distress of being told she was in debt and at risk of eviction. To remedy the injustice caused by this fault, the Council should reimburse Ms B nine weeks rent and any interest she has paid on the loan she took out to pay the arrears and make a payment for distress.
32. The Council also delayed telling Ms B how to pay her rent. The Council did not give her this information until five weeks after it told her she needed to pay rent. The Council accepted this was fault during its complaint investigation. Because of this fault, Ms B could not pay her rent and therefore, accrued further arrears. However, Ms B knew she needed to pay rent for these five weeks and the amount. The injustice to Ms B of the Council’s delay telling her how to pay rent caused her avoidable frustration. To remedy this injustice, the Council should make Ms B a payment for distress.
33. The Council’s allocations scheme says the director of housing may exercise discretion in exceptional circumstances to allow applicants with rent/service charge or temporary accommodation charge arrears to bid or to receive offers. In response to enquiries, the Council advised there is no evidence it considered whether to allow Ms B to bid on the housing register between May and June 2023 when she was in arrears. Given Ms B accrued rent arrears because of its delay, the Council should have considered using its discretion to allow her to bid. The Council did not, and this was fault. Ms B could not bid for around four weeks. The Council provided evidence that Ms B did not miss out on any offers during these four weeks. In this period, five studio apartments were let to homeless applicants who had earlier registration dates than Ms B.
34. However, the Council delayed accepting the main housing duty and this led to Ms B missing out on an offer of a studio flat. The Council accepted the relief duty for Ms B in September 2022. The Council should have ended this duty after 56 days at the end of October 2022. The Council should then have decided if it owed Ms B the main housing duty. The Council did not do this until April 2023, a delay of almost six months. This delayed the Council accepting Ms B onto the homeless persons’ priority register and as a result, Ms B missed out an offer of a studio flat. During this investigation, the Council offered Ms B a studio flat, and she has moved in.

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Agreed action

35. Within one month of the final decision, the Council will:
• Reimburse Ms B nine weeks rent and any interest she paid on the loan she took out to pay the arrears.
• Pay Ms B £200 for the avoidable distress and frustration caused by its faults.
• Remind housing staff of the need to consider whether the Council should use its discretion to allow someone with rent arrears to bid on the housing register in line with its allocations scheme.
• Remind housing staff the relief duty lasts 56 days and at this point, the Council must decide if it owes homelessness applicants the main housing duty.
36. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

37. I have completed my investigation and uphold Ms B’s complaint. Ms B was caused an injustice by the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman