Summary: Mr B complained about the way the Council dealt with his homeless application after he was evicted from asylum support accommodation. He was placed in bed and breakfast accommodation for too long and was forced to move to unsuitable temporary accommodation before being moved back to bed and breakfast accommodation again. This caused him significant distress inconvenience and extra costs. We have found fault with the Council. It has agreed to apologise to Mr B, pay him £2,600 and improve its procedures for the future.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained that Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (the Council), while dealing with his homeless application:
• placed him and his family in unsuitable bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation for too long;
• forced him to accept an unsuitable offer of temporary accommodation despite significant disrepair issues; and
• failed to take sufficient account of his and his wife’s medical needs, when offering accommodation.
2. Mr B and his family incurred extra costs (eg for food) while staying in the B&B accommodation, distress and inconvenience from living in unsuitable accommodation for longer than they should have done, and from having to move unnecessarily to the temporary accommodation only to be placed in more unsuitable B&B accommodation again.

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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. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), 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. 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

6. A person is threatened with homelessness if they are likely to become homeless within 56 days.
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)

The prevention duty

8. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

The relief duty

9. 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 main housing duty

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)

Duty to arrange interim accommodation (section 188)

11. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)

Suitability of accommodation

12. 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 Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
13. Wherever possible, Councils should avoid using B&B accommodation. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.33)
14. B&B accommodation can only be used for households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks. B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned by the council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.35)

What happened

15. Mr B and his wife have medical conditions. They have three daughters of school age.
16. In January 2023 Mr B and his family were given notice to leave their asylum support accommodation by the Home Office because their applications for refugee status had been successful.
17. The Council accepted a homeless application from them and accepted the prevention duty. The Council tried to extend their stay in the asylum support accommodation, but this was not successful. On 22 March 2023 the Council ended the prevention duty and accepted the relief duty. It placed the family in B&B accommodation in a different town in the borough. They had two rooms between them with bathroom facilities but no cooking facilities. They received breakfast each day. The Council said there was no other accommodation available. They asked the children’s schools to assist with funding for transport.
18. The Council also assisted Mr B to make a housing application to bid for properties under the choice-based allocations scheme. His application was placed in gold band (the highest priority). The Council helped him to bid and explained he could not choose the accommodation he liked the best and was not eligible for four-bedroom accommodation.
19. On 10 May 2023 the Council accepted the main housing duty towards them and in early June 2023 offered them temporary accommodation in a block of flats. Mr B viewed the property but said it was not suitable because the toilet was leaking and the carpets were sticky.
20. The Council said Mr B should accept the property, then appeal against the suitability. It said that if he did not accept it, the Council’s duty to house them would end, he would have to find his own accommodation and the Council would refer the family to social care. On 16 June 2023 Mr B said the toilet was still leaking and they could not move in. After some discussion Mr B agreed to move in: the Council said it would provide a taxi for them to move, a taxi to the laundrette once a week and to fix the leaking toilet. Mr B said he would clean the carpet himself.
21. On 17 June 2023 Mr B moved into the flat. On 19 June 2023 he told the Council they could not stay in the flat, due to the awful smell from the leaking toilet and had gone to stay with a friend. On 17 June 2023 another resident in the block reported flooding on the landing from the blocked toilet. On 20 June 2023 the Council visited the flat and agreed it was not suitable due to the smell/leaking toilet.
22. On 21 June 2023 the Council place the family in another B&B accommodation. Mr B said this was worse than the last one and initially they were only provided with one room for all five of them, but the manager found them two rooms. The rooms had their own bathroom, but there were no cooking or laundry facilities, so Mr B had to buy takeaway food and spent £40 a week on a taxi to do the laundry.
23. On 13 July 2023 Mr B complained about the Council’s actions, particularly the enforced move to the unsuitable temporary accommodation despite his reports that the flat was not habitable. He said he had spent money on taxis and a carpet cleaner and some of their clothes had been ruined due to mould.
24. The Council replied on 31 July 2023. It did not uphold the complaint: it accepted that B&B accommodation was not ideal for families, particularly with medical/mobility needs and the distance from the children’s schools. But it was satisfied it had met its interim accommodation duty and the school had funded the travel for some of the children. It noted Mr B had found some accommodation himself in the private rented sector.
25. Mr B moved into the accommodation on 1 August 2023. He is worried it is unaffordable due to the gap between the benefit he receives and the level of the rent. The Council carried out an income and expenditure assessment on 21 July 2023 and concluded Mr B could just afford the extra rent. The Council ended its housing duty on 11 August 2023.

Analysis

B&B accommodation

26. Mr B and his family stayed in B&B accommodation for approximately 19 weeks, including the few days spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation. This exceeded the statutory limit of six weeks (3 May 2023) by 13 weeks and is fault. I understand the Council accepted the B&B accommodation was unsuitable and tried to find accommodation for Mr B during this period but was unsuccessful. However, the duty to find suitable accommodation is immediate and it is not acceptable to leave families in B&B accommodation until something suitable becomes available.
27. The B&B accommodation was inherently unsuitable for a family of five with no available cooking facilities and in a different town to the children’s schools and the family’s medical practitioners. Mr B incurred significant daily expenses on takeaway food and taxis during this period.
28. I also note the Council did not explain the law to Mr B in terms of the length of time they should stay in B&B accommodation. This was fault which meant Mr B was unaware of his rights.

Unsuitable temporary accommodation

29. The length of time in unsuitable accommodation was exacerbated by the Council’s attempt to move the family to temporary accommodation in June 2023. Despite Mr B clearly stating that the property was unsuitable due to a leaking toilet and mould, the Council insisted that he move there, only to agree with him three days later (after visiting the property) that it was not suitable to live in. I also note another resident informed the Council of the problem around the same time.
30. The Council did not carry out a basic check of the property to ensure it was habitable and this was fault. If it had done so, it would have noted the problem with the property and avoided Mr B and his family, the upheaval of having to move unnecessarily on two occasions and having to stay with a friend in their living room for several nights; in addition to ending up in another B&B accommodation which was even more unsuitable than the previous one.

Complaint-handling

31. The Council’s complaint response was inadequate as it did not refer to the statutory time-limit on placing families in B&B accommodation and did not find fault even though the family had lived in B&B accommodation for 19 weeks. This was fault which caused Mr B time and trouble in having to complain to us.

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Agreed action

32. In recognition of the injustice to Mr B and his family, I recommended that within one of the date of my final decision, the Council:
• apologises to Mr B; and
• makes a symbolic payment of £2,600 (13 weeks @ £200 a week based on our Guidance on Remedies).
33. I also recommended within three months, the Council:
• reviews its procurement policy to reduce the use of B&B and increase the supply of other types of temporary accommodation;
• ensures a proper check of temporary accommodation is carried out before it is offered to ensure it is suitable;
• actively monitors all cases where families are in B&B accommodation to find alternative accommodation before the six-week limit is reached;
• should ensure it correctly informs families in B&B accommodation of the statutory time limit and their review/appeal rights; and
• provides guidance or training to complaints staff on the use of B&B accommodation to ensure staff can correctly identify fault.
34. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. It says it agrees that B& B accommodation is not suitable for any household and it is only in recent years that the need to use it has increased. It is in the process of securing more temporary accommodation and a national charity has reviewed its service. This included the implementation of a tracking system to ensure the length of time people spend in B& B accommodation is escalated to senior officers, along with more focus on reducing the amount of time households are in B& B accommodation. It is creating a new post in the temporary accommodation team dedicated to providing a detailed sign-up process to improve the information given to people about their rights and expectations.
35. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

36. I consider this is a proportionate way of putting right the injustice caused to Mr B and I have completed my investigation on this basis.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman