Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness case after it accepted the relief and main housing duty in 2022. The Council was at fault. It failed to offer suitable interim or temporary accommodation despite being aware Mrs X was living in an overcrowded unsuitable property. It meant Mrs X stayed in an unsuitable property for 18 months longer than necessary. The Council agreed to make a payment to recognise the distress this caused and carry out service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness case since November 2021. She said the Council accepted a homelessness duty but failed to offer suitable interim or temporary accommodation until January 2024. As a result she said her family remained in an unsuitable and overcrowded property which caused distress and uncertainty.

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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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What I have and have not investigated

4. Part of Mrs X’s complaint is about delays progressing her case when she first presented as homeless during 2021. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended). I have investigated from June 2022 only which was when the Council accepted the relief duty. The complaint about delays prior to going back to 2021 is late and it was reasonable for Mrs X to have complained earlier about that period. In addition, the Council has already backdated Mrs X’s priority due to the past delays and has also found the delays had no impact on Mrs X’s wait for permanent accommodation. So, further investigation would not achieve anything more.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered information she provided.
6. I considered the Council’s response to our enquiries.
7. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

8. 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.
9. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is called the ‘relief duty’. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B).
10. After carrying out a homelessness assessment councils must prepare a Personalised Housing Plan (PHP) with the applicant to prevent or relieve their homelessness, depending upon the circumstances. The PHP sets out the steps both the authority and the applicant will take to try to resolve the applicant’s homelessness.
11. PHPs must be kept under review throughout the prevention and relief stages, and any amendments notified to the applicant.
12. 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.
13. 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).
14. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty, but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
15. 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 and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2.
16. The law says bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation is not suitable for households with family commitments. Where no other accommodation is available, councils may place a family in B&B as a last resort for a maximum of six weeks. B&B is defined as accommodation which is not self-contained and where facilities such as toilet and kitchen are shared.
17. The High Court held that a local authority is not entitled to defer performance of its duty under s193 (the main housing duty) and the court should not be persuaded by the alleged impossibility of finding suitable accommodation unless it was satisfied all reasonable steps had been taken. (R v Newham LBC ex p Begum [2000] 2 All ER 72, 32 HLR 80)
18. We consider delay in transferring the applicant to suitable accommodation is service failure even when that is due to external factors beyond the Council’s control (such as a shortage of temporary accommodation). The fact that a council has not met the statutory duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation is, in itself, sufficient to make a finding of service failure.

What happened

19. In June 2022 the Council accepted a relief duty towards Mrs X and her family. Mrs X was living with her husband in a two bedroom property with their four children. The Council accepted she was homeless due to living in a severely overcrowded property which was no longer suitable. The Council wrote to Mrs X confirming its decision, explaining it would take steps to help her secure suitable accommodation.
20. The Council provided Mrs X with a Personal Housing Plan (PHP) which noted her property was overcrowded and said the Council would refer her for four bedroom properties. A housing officer discussed placing Mrs X into emergency accommodation due to the unsuitable property she lived in. The officer recorded they explained it could be self-contained but also shared. The officer noted Mrs X said she would rather stay where she was and not disrupt the children by moving into shared accommodation. There is no evidence the officer explained to Mrs X that shared accommodation would only be if no other accommodation was available and would be for a maximum of six weeks.
21. The Council wrote to Mrs X in mid-August 2022 and accepted it owed her the main housing duty. The letter said it intended to discharge this duty by providing her with alternative accommodation. It said this could be temporary accommodation or permanent.
22. Records show Mrs X contacted the Council on numerous occasions between mid-2022 and mid-2023 for updates on their case. There were occasions during 2023 where she did not receive any response to calls or emails. There is no evidence of any offer of temporary or permanent accommodation.
23. In July 2023 Mrs X complained to the Council. Mrs X said she and her family were still living in unsuitable accommodation and the Council had not taken any steps to move them. Mrs X asked the Council what action it had taken to put them into interim and temporary accommodation since accepting the homelessness duty.
24. The Council responded to Mrs X and accepted the Council had delayed responding to emails and calls. It said Mrs X’s caseworker had been away from the office and its housing service had experienced staff shortages. The Council said it explored interim accommodation with Mrs X after accepting the relief duty but noted Mrs X preferred to remain in the current property so as not to disrupt the children’s schooling. It accepted Mrs X’s case had gone 11 months without an offer of alternative accommodation. It said a chronic shortage of properties in the London area was the cause. It apologised for the delays and offered Mrs X £250 to recognise the distress caused.
25. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the Council’s procedure in September 2023. She said the Council had never reviewed her PHP and it was not true that she turned down interim accommodation. Mrs X said the Council had not offered any interim or temporary accommodation since accepting the relief and main duty in 2022 and therefore she remained homeless without a legal right of review to the suitability of her current property.
26. The Council provided Mrs X with its final complaint response in September 2023. It accepted it did not review Mrs X’s PHP and would ask the housing officer to do so within the next two weeks. The Council maintained that Mrs X did not want to move from into interim accommodation at the time. However, it accepted the housing officer did not fully explain that Mrs X’s family would have only been in emergency B&B or shared accommodation for a maximum of six weeks. It said it would remind officers to fully explain the correct position around interim and B&B accommodation during the relief duty stage.
27. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to us.
28. Since complaining to us the Council has found Mrs X suitable temporary accommodation, which she and the family moved into in January 2024.
29. The Council has also issued a reminder to its relevant staff of the requirement to fully explain the option of interim accommodation and the temporary nature of B&B/shared accommodation. It has also issued a reminder about regularly reviewing PHPs.

My findings

30. The Council accepted a relief duty towards Mrs X in June 2022 and at the time it was fully aware that the family was living in an overcrowded unsuitable property. Evidence shows the Council discussed ‘emergency’ accommodation with Mrs X however because it did not fully explain the implications and temporary nature of shared/B&B accommodation she was unable to make an informed decision about whether to move. That was fault. It leaves uncertainty about whether Mrs X may have decided to accept an interim offer had she been fully informed.
31. In August 2022 the Council accepted the main duty and Mrs X remained living in the same unsuitable property. The Council has said this was due to a lack of available properties in the London area. However, there is no evidence showing the Council either reviewed Mrs X’s PHP or sought and offered any alternative properties for Mrs X until it offered the property she moved into in January 2024. There is no evidence of communication with Mrs X and it appears to have let the matter drift without taking action until she submitted her complaint. All of this was fault and meant Mrs X and her family remained homeless, in unsuitable accommodation between August 2022 and January 2024.
32. The Council has already taken action to address how its staff deal with and explain about interim shared/B&B accommodation and has issued a reminder about reviewing PHPs.

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Agreed action

33. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £3600 to recognise the distress of living in unsuitable overcrowded accommodation between August 2022 and January 2024 when it owed her the main housing duty.
34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

35. I completed this investigation. I found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman