Summary: The Council was at fault for delaying in providing Mr X with a homelessness relief duty and for wrongly telling him to attend a homelessness assessment. As a result, the Council delayed in providing Mr X with help to relieve his homelessness. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
• Delayed in handling his homelessness application.
• Did not give him enough points on its housing register.
• Wrongly sent him a form with someone else’s name on it and shared his details with Housing Associations and hostels.

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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. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of this investigation, I considered the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I discussed the complaint over the telephone with Mr X. I sent a draft of this decision to Mr X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

Homelessness

6. 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)
7. 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)
8. 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)
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. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Housing register

11. 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))
12. 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))
13. The Council’s housing allocations policy places applicants into Priority Groups and gives them points according to their need. The Council gives 20 points to homeless applicants who have not been owed the main housing duty. If an applicant is awarded the main housing duty their points increase to 150.

What happened

14. In late April 2023, Mr X approached the Council and made a homelessness application and housing register application. The Council booked Mr X in for a homelessness assessment.
15. After processing Mr X’s housing register application, the Council awarded him 20 points on the basis he was homeless and had not been owed the main housing duty.
16. On 15 May 2023, Mr X attended the Council for his homelessness assessment. At this time the Council said it did not have reason to believe Mr X was in priority need as he made a previous homelessness application in 2022 and the Council found him not to be in priority need. The Council said it did not consider Mr X’s circumstances had changed but would consider any new evidence Mr X could provide.
17. In July 2023, the Council contacted Mr X and told him to come in for an assessment. Mr X visited the Council and was told he did not have an assessment that day. Mr X said he was very upset by this as he thought he was going to receive help.
18. In early August 2023, Mr X complained to the Council. Mr X said the Council asked him to come for an appointment in error. He had tried to contact his caseworker and felt ignored. Mr X said he did not have enough points on the Council’s housing register and his caseworker asked him to provide documents he already had provided.
19. The Council decided it owed Mr X the Relief Duty on 11 August 2023. The Council wrote to Mr X to confirm this and sent him a copy of his personalised housing plan. As part of Mr X’s personalised housing plan the Council agreed to refer him to hostels and other housing providers for help with securing accommodation.
20. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint on 21 August 2023. The Council said:
• It made the appointment for Mr X to come in for an assessment in July 2023, in error. The Council apologised for this.
• It recognised following Mr X’s assessment, it delayed in owing him the relief duty by 11 weeks. The Council offered Mr X £110 to recognise the 11 week delay.
• Mr X had 20 points on its housing register. The Council said applicants who are homeless but do not have the main housing duty are awarded 20 points. The Council said as it was yet to decide whether Mr X was owed the main housing duty, he had the correct points on the housing register.
21. Following its complaint response, the Council sent Mr X a form to accept the payment it offered him, however the form had another person’s name on it in error. Mr X asked the Council to escalate his complaint to the next stage and raised further concerns about the Council referring him to hostels.
22. In late September 2023, the Council sent Mr X its final response to his complaint. The Council told him it was deciding whether it owed him the main housing duty. The Council apologised for sending him a form with someone else’s name on it. The Council said it had referred him to housing associations and hostels to relieve his homelessness and because this was one of the agreed steps in his personalised housing plan.
23. On 10 October 2023, the Council decided it did not owe Mr X the main housing duty as he was not in priority need. The Council also ended the Relief Duty it owed to Mr X.

Analysis

Homelessness application

24. The Council was at fault for delaying in providing Mr X with the Relief Duty. After his assessment on 15 May 2023, the Council should have owed him the Relief Duty, however it waited until mid-August 2023 to tell him it had given him the Relief Duty.
25. Mr X has suffered injustice because of this fault. He has missed out on receiving assistance from the Council between mid-May and mid-August 2023, in getting help relieving his homelessness. This caused Mr X uncertainty as if the Council had provided him with the Relief Duty in May 2023, and taken steps to relieve his homelessness at that stage, there is a chance it could have helped him secure accommodation.
26. I acknowledge the Council has recognised it was at fault and offered Mr X £110 for the delay. The Council also said it had taken steps to increase the size of its casework team to process applications faster. While this is welcomed I do not think this is sufficient to remedy the injustice to Mr X.
27. The Council was at fault for wrongly telling Mr X to come for an assessment. As a result Mr X turned up for the assessment and was told it was an administration error. Mr X said he believed he was going to receive help with his homelessness situation and was very upset when this was not the case. Mr X said is reaction was worsened by the fact he has severe anxiety and depression.
28. The Council has acknowledged it wrongly asked Mr X to attend its offices for appointment, however it has not offered him any remedy for this fault.

Housing register application

29. After accepting a housing register application for Mr X the Council decided he should receive 20 priority points. At this time Mr X was homeless but had not been owed the main housing duty. I am satisfied the Council considered Mr X’s application in line with its housing allocations scheme. I do not find the Council at fault for how it decided the level of priority to give Mr X on its housing register.

Data breach

30. Mr X complains the Council passed his details to hostels. I have not found the Council at fault for this. As part of the Relief Duty, the Council agreed in Mr X’s personalised housing plan to refer him to organisations who could help him secure accommodation.
31. In relation to the Council sending Mr X a compensation form with another customer’s name on it, this was fault by the Council. However I am satisfied that this has not caused Mr X any significant injustice.

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Agreed action

32. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Provide Mr X with a written apology for the delay in owing him the relief duty and for incorrectly telling him to attend an assessment.
• Pay Mr X £300 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused to him as a result of the above faults.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault which caused Mr X injustice. The Council agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman