Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to end the main housing duty it owed to Miss X when she refused a final offer of accommodation. It would have been reasonable for Miss X to use her statutory rights of appeal to court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council wrongly discharged its main housing duty after she did not accept an offer of permanent accommodation which she says was unsuitable. She says these events have caused a significant impact on her and her child’s health, and significant distress. She says they have been sofa-surfing since leaving their temporary accommodation. She wants the Council to house them in suitable accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council made Miss X an offer of permanent accommodation in late 2022, after she had been staying in temporary accommodation for a period after becoming homeless. Miss X refused the offer as she did not consider the accommodation suitable.
6. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need it has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
7. The Council gave Miss X its decision about suitability of its final offer of accommodation in writing, explaining the likely outcome if she refused would be for it to end the main housing duty as it considered the accommodation available and suitable. It gave her a further opportunity to accept the offer but she declined. The Council therefore ended the main housing duty, in line with the law.
8. Where there is a statutory right of appeal to the courts, we generally will not investigate a complaint about the matter. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body, and in the absence of fault in the process a council has followed, only the courts can overturn its decision. It is not for us to decide whether accommodation is suitable, and Miss X had the right to appeal the Council’s decision. The Council made Miss X aware in both notification letters that she had the right to request a review and the timescale for doing so. It was suitable for Miss X to use her appeal rights in relation to both decisions.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it would have been reasonable for her to use her right of appeal for the Council’s decisions on suitability of its offer of accommodation and ending the main housing duty.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman