Summary: Mr B complained about the way the Council dealt with his homeless applications on two occasions in 2022. We have not found fault with the actions of the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained that Milton Keynes Council (the Council) failed to intervene regarding disrepair and harassment from his landlord when Mr B was living in private rented accommodation in 2022. It also failed to deal properly with his homeless application after he left the accommodation and was sleeping rough. This has caused and continues to cause Mr B significant distress and inconvenience.

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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 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)
3. 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

4. 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. Mr B 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

5. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:
• 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)
6. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance says, rather than advise the applicant to return when homelessness is more imminent, the housing authority may wish to accept a prevention duty and begin to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
7. After completing inquiries, the council must give the applicant a decision in writing. If it is an adverse decision, the letter must fully explain the reasons. All letters must include information about the right to request a review and the timescale for doing so. (Housing Act 1996, section 184, from 3 April 2018 Homelessness Code of Guidance 18.32 and 18.33)

What happened

8. In May 2022 Mr B complained to the Council about problems with his accommodation. The Council contacted Mr B’s landlord who explained that the property had been advertised with no cooking facilities and the problems with the electricity had been resolved. Mr B also now had a key to the main house. The Council asked the landlord to resolve the plumbing issues. It closed the case in July 2022 as resolved.
9. Mr B contacted the Council at the end of May 2022 to say he had been assaulted by his landlord and was being harassed by local people. The Council carried out an initial assessment and asked Mr B to provide crime reference numbers or other evidence of the issues. The Council also asked Mr B to sign a document agreeing for the Council to contact third parties on his behalf to obtain sufficient information about his situation to reach a decision on his homelessness. The Council says Mr B did not raise any concerns about disrepair as part of his application.
10. The Council reminded Mr B on 8 June 2022 that it needed more information to decide his case. Mr B did not sign the disclosure document and did not provide any further information.
11. On 26 July 2022 the Council issued a decision saying that it did not consider Mr B was homeless. His landlord had not issued a formal notice to quit and so Mr B still had accommodation available to him which was reasonable to occupy. The decision detailed his right to request a review and advised him how to seek accommodation in the private rented sector.
12. In September 2022 Mr B contacted the Council again and said he would be made homeless in ten days’ time. He had received a text message from his landlord stating that he needed to leave the property. The Council told him his case had been closed and he registered a formal complaint saying this should not have happened. The Council also said he needed to start a new application and Mr B said he was now sleeping on the streets.
13. The Council responded to his complaint on 13 October 2022 explaining that it closed his case because he had not provided evidence that he was homeless or threatened with homelessness. On 15 October 2022 the rough sleepers team tried to verify that Mr B was sleeping rough, but they could not find him. They rang him and he said he had stayed at a friend’s house the previous night.
14. At the end of October 2022, the Council completed a housing assessment, accepted the relief duty towards Mr B and sent him a personal housing plan. This required Mr B to provide documents to support his application, including the letter from his landlord requiring him to leave his previous accommodation and a letter from his friend saying he could not continue to stay there. It also said he needed to start looking for private rented accommodation using the information in the toolkit the Council had provided and to update the Council on those actions every two weeks. Mr B said he did not want a room in shared accommodation but wanted a self-contained flat. The Council advised this might be too expensive for him. But it said it may be able to help with a deposit and rent in advance if he found somewhere suitable. The Council also sent him a link to apply for housing on the housing register. Mr B also signed the document disclosure agreement.
15. Mr B did not provide any further information including the details of his previous landlord so the Council could not verify the reasons for his homelessness.
16. The Council closed his case on 18 April 2023 and sent him a decision letter, saying it did not consider he was homeless or threatened with homelessness. The letter gave him a right of review against the decision.
17. Mr B complained to us in September 2023.
18. In response to our initial enquiries the Council said that in respect of the May 2022 application the Council appeared to initially accept the prevention duty and believed that Mr B may have been at risk of homelessness, so technically it should have sent a prevention duty letter and a personal housing plan or made enquiries about the homelessness on the day of the assessment and issued a not homeless decision more quickly.

Analysis

May 2022

19. I agree the Council could have been clearer about the duty it had accepted and the action it had taken after the initial assessment of Mr B’s housing situation. However, given Mr B’s lack of engagement at this point and his failure to provide any further information or permission for the Council to contact third parties, I do not consider the outcome would have been any different, as the Council was unable to establish the reason for Mr B’s homelessness. I also note the time taken to issue the ‘not homeless’ decision did not disadvantage Mr B and he had a right of review against that decision if he wished to challenge it.

October 2022

20. I have not identified fault with the way the Council dealt with the second application. It made a referral to the rough sleepers team. It carried out an initial assessment, sent a relief duty letter and personal housing plan. It obtained details of Mr B’s income and expenditure, gave him full advice about seeking privately rented accommodation and the financial assistance available for this. It also provided details of how Mr B could apply for housing through the housing register. Mr B did not engage with the process and did not provide any evidence to support this application. The Council decided he was not homeless or threatened with homelessness and gave him a right of review against the decision.

Disrepair and harassment

21. The Council responded to Mr B’s initial complaint about disrepair and liaised with the landlord to resolve the issues.
22. The Council says Mr B did not mention any disrepair issues when he contacted the homeless team, and he did not provide any details about the harassment to enable the Council to investigate further. I find no fault here.

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Final decision

23. I have completed my investigation into this complaint as I am unable to find fault causing injustice in the actions of the Council towards Mr B.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman