Summary: Ms D complained the Council failed to provide her with suitable interim accommodation after she was threatened with homelessness. We find the Council was at fault for failing to evidence it fully considered Ms D’s and her family’s circumstances before it offered interim accommodation. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

The complaint

1. Ms D complained the Council failed to provide her with suitable interim accommodation after she was threatened with homelessness. She says the Council failed to consider her and her daughter’s personal circumstances and disabilities.
2. Ms D says the Council’s actions have caused her distress and upset.

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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. 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 information from Ms D. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
6. Ms D 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

7. 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.
8. 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. This is called the prevention duty (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
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. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)

The Equality Act 2010

11. The Equality Act 2010 protects the rights of individuals and supports equality of opportunity for all. The Act makes it unlawful for organisations carrying out public functions to discriminate against any of the nine protected characteristics listed in the Act. The protected characteristics referred to in the Act include disability.

What happened

12. Ms D lives in private housing. Her landlord served her with a section 21 notice in December 2022. A section 21 notice is a formal document served by a landlord to notify the tenant of their intention to repossess a property. Ms D sent the Council a homelessness application.
13. Ms D is disabled, she uses a mobility scooter or a wheelchair, and she has difficulties walking far. Her daughter suffers from severe mental health issues. Ms D provided the Council with information about her and her daughter’s circumstances. She explained her daughter has a history of attempting suicide, and it was important they lived near family to receive support. The Council also contacted medical professionals to get up to date information about Ms D’s and her daughter’s health conditions.
14. The Council wrote to Ms D in March about her homelessness application. It said it owed her the prevention duty.
15. The Council offered Ms D interim accommodation at a hotel in a different authority’s area in April. It said in its letter it was satisfied it was a suitable offer. Ms D responded and said the accommodation was not suitable because of her mobility issues, and her inability to walk far from her car to the front door. She also said the location of the accommodation was too far away from her family support network. Finally, she said her daughter attends a local mental health service and she could not attend if they moved out of the area because of her difficulties using public transport.
16. The Council responded and said the hotel had parking outside the front door and so she would not need to walk far. It told her to contact her daughter’s mental health service and tell them about her proposed change of address. The service could then do an assessment. It said interim accommodation is in short supply and it was the only one available that met her needs. It said the only alternative property it had available was a first floor flat. It said if she was not happy, she could stay where she was until her landlord served a possession order. A possession order means a landlord can legally evict their tenant.
17. Ms D spoke to her landlord, and they agreed to let her stay in the property for longer.
18. Ms D complained to the Council about its failure to provide her with suitable interim accommodation. She said it was in breach of the Equality Act 2010. She said the hotel it offered only had parking for three cars and she needed a designated car parking space because of her mobility issues. She said there were three steps to the hotel building which she could not manage. She said the location of the accommodation made it difficult to receive any family support and her daughter could not live in shared accommodation because of her volatile behaviour. Finally, she said its alternative offer of a first floor flat was insulting as she cannot use the stairs.
19. The Council responded to Ms D’s complaint and said there was no evidence it had discriminated against her. It said the hotel accommodation was on the ground floor and therefore it had considered her and her daughter’s disabilities. It said it was difficult to find interim accommodation that met all her requirements.

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Analysis

20. The Council has a legal duty to ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This is despite accommodation being in short supply. In this case, the Council was aware of Ms D’s and her daughter’s disabilities and health issues. It said in its letter the hotel accommodation was suitable for Ms D and her family. However, it failed to explain in the letter how it reached this decision and why it was satisfied the accommodation was suitable. The Council has also not provided me with any evidence it carried out a suitability assessment before offering the accommodation. This is fault. Ms D cannot be satisfied the Council fully considered her circumstances.
21. Ms D told the Council she needs to be close to family support because of her daughter’s severe mental health issues. She told it about her daughter’s volatile behaviour and therefore living in shared accommodation was unsuitable. The Council did not specifically address these points when it responded to Ms D’s complaint. It failed to explain why its offer was still suitable despite the points Ms D raised. This leaves Ms D with further uncertainty about the Council’s decision making.
22. The Council has also not provided any evidence to show how it decided its second offer of a first floor flat was a suitable alternative when Ms D explained she has mobility issues and cannot manage the stairs.
23. While I understand Ms D has been able to continue the living in her privately rented property, the Council’s faults would have caused her distress and upset. It also left her feeling the Council ignored her health issues and disabilities. The Council needs to remedy this injustice.

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Agreed action

24. By 19 January 2024 the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms D for the distress and upset caused.
25. By 16 February 2024 the Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they aware of the Council’s legal duties to provide suitable interim accommodation. Staff should fully document any decisions they make on the suitability of interim accommodation and these decisions should be fully explained to applicants in the offer letters.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

27. There was fault by the Council, which caused Ms D an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so 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