Summary: Mr X complained about matters relating to his homelessness including the failure to add him to the housing register; failure to make a referral; failure to provide housing benefit advice and that his interim accommodation was unsuitable. Mr X says he suffered a deterioration in his mental health and suffered financially. There was fault in not adding him to the housing register as his application should have been awarded reasonable preference due to being homeless. A suitable remedy for the injustice caused is agreed.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about various matter relating to his homelessness. Specifically, that the Council:

• Failed to apply reasonable preference and put him on the housing register;
• Failed to make a referral to Help2rent;
• Failed to provide advice about making a housing benefit claim and
• Did not provide suitable interim accommodation.

2. Mr X says he suffered a deterioration in his mental health and suffered financially.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
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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What I have and have not investigated

5. The 1974 Local Government Act states the Ombudsman will not consider complaints unless made within 12 months of the person first becoming aware that something had happened which affected them. While Mr X has been in contact with the Council since 2018 about homelessness matters, this complaint is concerned with actions from July 2022 onwards only because Mr X has not provided information to show he was unable to complain sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

6. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and taken account of their comments in reaching my final decision.

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What I found

The relief duty

7. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

The published scheme housing allocations scheme

8. 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))

Reasonable preference

9. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:

• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
   

Key facts

10. The Council carried out a telephone assessment of Mr X’s homelessness application on 4 July 2022. The Council provided interim accommodation and produced a personal housing plan (PHP). This detailed the action both it and Mr X would take to try to alleviate his homelessness. This included looking at accommodation in the private rented sector.
11. Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council saying he was being forced into private rented accommodation which was not suitable for his needs. He questioned why, as a working person paying taxes, he could not be added to the housing register.
12. The Council’s response stated that it was required to work in line with the Homelessness code of Guidance. It said when a relief duty is accepted it is obliged to take steps to help the person secure suitable accommodation and that this could include housing in the private rented sector. It said Mr X was not being forced to take this option but the private rented sector could be a positive option for him to consider.
13. The Council also told Mr X that when it opens an application for a person who is homeless and eligible for help, it then has to make a decision regarding the duty (if any) that is owed. It said this decision is essentially a decision on whether he is able to join the housing register to bid on a council property. It said for a person to be accepted it had to be proved that they are homeless, eligible for assistance, have a priority need, have not made themselves intentionally homeless and have a local connection. It said Mr X needed to wait for the full 56 days of the relief duty to elapse before this decision would be made.
14. In January 2023, the Council wrote to Mr X saying that while he was homeless and eligible for help, he was not in a priority need and so the Council did not owe him the full homeless duty. The Council said Mr X could remain in the temporary accommodation until 31 January. Mr X requested a review which upheld the decision that Mr X was not in priority need.
15. On 6 January Mr X contacted the Council saying he requested his complaint be escalated to Stage Two in July 2022 and sent copies of the email exchange with the Council. He complained about a lack of communication from his housing officer including failures around housing benefit, using the Help2rent website and having to leave the hostel he is living in.
16. The Council’s Stage Two complaint response is dated 18 May 2023. It said that since receiving the decision letter on 3 January the Council had carried out a review of that decision and upheld it. It also said that on 6 February he was given further advice about the private rented sector as well as to contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for advice on claiming benefits. It said Mr X had been offered viewings for private rented properties and that he had refused two properties due to them being too dirty. It said a homeless charity was no longer searching for a property for Mr X due to his refusals. Mr X says that there were other reasons he refused the properties including safety considerations.
17. The Council said it was unable to overturn the decision on his homelessness application but that he should make new representations if his circumstances change. It said that it was unlikely Mr X would be placed on the housing register but even if he were, he would be in a very low priority band. The high demand and low supply of council properties would result in an extensive waiting period just to be considered for a viewing. It said the option of private rented accommodation is the quickest way for Mr X to secure accommodation.
18. Dissatisfied Mr X complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Failed to apply reasonable preference and put him on the housing register

19. Mr X has repeatedly requested that he be able to join the housing register so he can bid on council properties. He has been clear about not wanting a private rented property as he does not consider it would be affordable or meet his needs. The Council has not allowed him to join the housing register and said this was because he was considered to be in priority need.
20. The Housing Act 1996 requires a council’s allocation policy to give reasonable preference on its housing register to people who are homeless and this includes those who are intentionally homeless and those not in priority need. As the Council initially accepted it owed Mr X the relief duty under the Homelessness Reduction Act, then it accepted he was homeless and therefore entitled to be on the housing register.
21. There are several groups of applicants who fall into the reasonable preference categories set out in the homelessness guidance and there is no requirement for councils to give equal weight to each of these categories. It just needs to demonstrate that, overall reasonable preference has been given to all of them.
22. The Council’s Allocation Scheme does give reasonable preference to homeless applicants. It places homeless applicants who are owed the full housing duty in Band Three and it places other homeless applicants, in Band Four with one star.
23. I am satisfied the Allocation Scheme meets the requirement to award homeless applicants reasonable preference. However, it failed to properly apply this when it declined to allow Mr X to join its housing register. This is fault. I am pleased to note that in response to my enquiries in this case, the Council now accepts its complaint responses were incorrect and a remedy should be provided to rectify this.

Failed to make a referral to Help2rent

24. Mr X complains the Council failed to make a referral to Help2Rent. The information provided to me shows information about Help2Rent was included on the PHP sent to Mr X on 10 August 2022. The PHP included a link to the Help2Rent website and advice that he would need to register and then check for properties to organise viewings.
25. In his stage two complaint, Mr X said he has been sent information about websites like Help2Rent but these are pointless because he cannot bid unless the Council refers him. I note the Council did not directly address this issue in its complaint response. However, it is my understanding that Help2Rent lists private sector properties who accept tenants in receipt of benefits and that as such it is not a bidding process but that once registered Mr X could find available properties and request a viewing. It would then be up to Mr X to decide whether to enter into a tenancy agreement directly with the landlord.
26. The information provided shows the Council did provide details to Mr X about Help2Rent and how to access the website. I therefore find no fault on this issue.

Failed to provide advice about making a housing benefit claim

27. In an email to the Council dated 6 January 2023, Mr X said that he had rent arrears which had accrued because his housing officer had failed to tell him how to claim housing benefit. He said that he had been trying to claim via the jobcentre only for it to tell him some months later that he had to seek this benefit through the council that had accommodated him. Again I note the Council’s complaint response did not directly address this issue.
28. Information provided by the Council includes case notes. These show that in August 2022 the Council advised Mr X to submit a further backdated appeal to housing benefit with proof that he had been advised to claim universal credit housing costs and along with evidence of his efforts to make such a claim. There is also information showing a housing officer discussed the issue with Mr X and gave details of what period to use for the backdated benefit request and what evidence to provide.
29. I am therefore satisfied that the Council did provide advice to Mr X about housing benefit in 2022 and so find no fault.

Did not provide suitable interim accommodation

30. The Council provided Mr X with interim accommodation which it asked him to leave at the end of January 2023. This was after the relief duty ended and the Council decided it did not owe him the full homelessness duty. Mr X did not have the right to seek a suitability review of this accommodation because it was interim and not temporary accommodation. As Mr X did not have a right of review or appeal, we can consider the suitability.
31. Mr X says the accommodation was too far from his place of work and that he could not live there safely as criminals and drug dealers lived there. The Council has provided me with a copy of the checklist it completed prior to offering the accommodation to Mr X. This shows that it took account of the travel time of one hour 16 minutes to his workplace; that there were areas Mr X could not live in due to previous gang activity and no closer suitable accommodation was available that day.
32. While I can appreciate this was hostel accommodation and so Mr X did not consider it suitable, I am satisfied the Council did give consideration to Mr X’s needs before determining the accommodation was suitable as interim accommodation. I find no fault on this issue.

Complaint Handling

33. While Mr X has not specifically raised the issue of complaint handling, my investigation has found failings in this area. Mr X first escalated his complaint to Stage Two of the Council’s complaints procedure in July 2022 but does not appear to have received a response. He raised the issue again in January 2023 but the Council did not respond until 18 May 2023.
34. The response did not give any explanation for the delay or provide an apology for it. It also failed to address some of the issues raised by Mr X including with the Help2Rent scheme and housing benefit issues. While I have not found fault in this investigation with those issues, the Council should have responded to the issues raised in a timely manner.

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Agreed action

35. To remedy the injustice caused to Mr X as a result of the fault identified above the Council should, within one month of my final decision, take the following action:
• Apologise to Mr X;
• Add Mr X to the housing register giving him the appropriate priority (Band Four with One star) and backdate to July 2022;
• Carry out a review of all properties allocated since July 2022 that Mr X could have bid for to see if he missed out on a property. In the unlikely event that he did, allocate him the next suitable property that becomes available;
• Make Mr X a symbolic payment of £250 to recognise Mr X’s time and trouble in pursuing this matter;
• Provide evidence the Council has given guidance to all staff dealing with homelessness cases and complaints to ensure they give the correct advice.
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 with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman