Summary: Miss D complained about the Council’s handling of her homeless application which meant she lived in unsuitable accommodation. She said, as a result, she experienced distress and uncertainty. The Council accepted it was at fault as it had a duty to provide Miss D with interim accommodation from February to December 2023. We found it also failed to issue its housing decisions giving her appeal rights, communicated poorly, and failed to respond to her complaint. The Council agreed to apologise to Miss D and make payment to remedy the injustice its faults caused.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss D, complained about the Council’s handling of her and her partner’s homeless application. She said it:
• failed to properly consider their needs and provide appropriate housing support;
• to communicate with her properly; and
• did not respond to her complaint as set out in its Policy.
2. Miss D said, as a result, she and her partner experienced distress which impacted their mental health.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended.
5. 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

6. I have considered Miss D’s complaint and discussed her concerns with her. I considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries and had regard to the law and guidance relevant to the complaint.
7. Miss D 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

Relevant law and guidance

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.

8. 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)

Interim accommodation

9. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness.
10. Where a council has reason to believe a person may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need, it will have a duty to provide interim accommodation for them if they request this. Applicants in priority need include people with dependent children.

Relief duty

11. Where a council is satisfied a person is homeless and eligible for support, it has a duty to take reasonable steps to help the person secure accommodation that will be available for at least 6 months. This is the relief duty, and it applies for 56 days. The council should set out the steps that it, and the person, will take in a Personal Housing Plan (PHP).

Main housing duty

12. 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. 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)

Decisions and review rights

13. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of a local authority’s decisions. These includes:
• their eligibility for assistance;
• what duty (if any) is owed to them if they are found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness;
• giving notice to bring the prevention duty to an end;
• giving notice to bring the relief duty to an end; and
• the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted (and the suitability of accommodation offered under section 200(3) and section 193). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.

Council’s complaint procedure

14. The Council has a two-stage complaint process, as follows:
• it will acknowledge complaints within five working days;
• its will usually respond to complaints at stage 1 within 20 working days of its acknowledgement; and
• a senior manager will investigate and respond at stage 2 complaints within 20 working days.
15. If it cannot meet these timescales, it will, inform the complaint why and when it can respond.

What happened

16. Miss D approached the Council in February 2023 for help with housing. She was staying with her parents at the time with her partner, who had asked them to leave and provided a notice which expired in April 2023. Prior to this she had been evicted from a privately rented accommodation.
17. The Council took Miss D’s homeless application and asked for supporting information, including circumstances around her and her partners health. She provided the information.
18. In March 2023 the Council told Miss D it had enough information to reach a view on whether she was in priority need for housing. The Council also told her about its housing register, and it could assist her with private rented accommodation.
19. In April 2023 the Council considered whether Miss D and her partner were in priority need due to health grounds. Based on the information available, it found they were not.
20. The Council continued to support Miss D with finding privately rented accommodation over the following months. It explained it could help with deposit and a rent advance. Some properties the Council or Miss D found were considered, but none led to a move.
21. In August Miss D and her partner contacted the Council again for an update. They said a Council officer had told them it would provide accommodation if it had been unsuccessful in doing so within 56 days of their application. Miss D also said their housing situation had worsened their health and she was taking more medication.
22. The Council said it had not advised them it would provide accommodation. It shared opportunities available for private renting and suggested they applied to its housing register. It also provided information about welfare benefits and said it would request information from the GP regarding their health.
23. In early September 2023 Miss D’s GP had shared her medical summary. The Council considered this but decided Miss D and her partner was still not in priority need. It called Miss D to tell her the outcome.

Miss D’s complaint

24. Miss D complained to the Council in August 2023 about its handling of her and her partners homelessness application. She said it had failed to properly consider their needs and provide appropriate housing support. She also said it had failed to communicate with her properly. She said, as a result, they were living in unsuitable conditions without heating.
25. Miss D chased the Council for a response to her complaint over the next three months. The Council’s complaints team was apologetic, but explained it needed the Council’s Housing Team to provide information for its response. Miss D did not receive a response to her complaint.
26. In November 2023 Mrs D asked the Ombudsman to consider her complaint. We asked the Council for its complaint response but shortly after we decided it had already had enough opportunity to respond to Miss D’s complaint.
27. In December 2023 the Council spoke with Miss D again. It believed their circumstances were unchanged but agreed to obtain a further medical summary for it to consider. Once it received the updated medical summary, it again decided they were not in priority need and ended its relief duty as more than 56 days had passed. This decision was shared with Miss D.
28. At the same time, the Council’s investigation into Miss D’s complaint was taking place. It called her shortly before Christmas and explained it should had offered her interim accommodation in February 2023 until it had completed further enquiries. It offered to do so now. Miss D asked for the interim accommodation to start in after the New Year.
29. In early January 2024, the Council arranged an interim accommodation for Miss D which she and her partner moved into. It also shared:
• a letter which accepted its duty to provide her with interim accommodation from February 2023;
• a relief duty decision letter based on her February 2023 homeless application in which it accepted a relief duty and gave her appeal rights; and
• her personal housing plan which set out the steps it would take and those it expected Miss D to take to secure a temporary or permanent accommodation.
30. In response to our enquiries the Council accepted it had caused errors and delays. These were:
• It had incorrectly considered Miss D’s homeless application from February 2023. This was because her temporary residence with her parents was not settled accommodation. It should have considered her previous eviction from her private rented accommodation instead. It had therefore reconsidered her case and reissued decisions backdated to February 2023, which found it had a duty to provide her with interim accommodation and had a relief duty.
• It should had made its main housing decision in April 2023. If it had done so and found it owed Miss D a duty, she would have been on Band A at the time. Miss D applied and joined its housing register in September 2023, she was awarded Band B which is currently under review. It explained its Housing Allocation Policy does not have provision to rectify the disadvantage this caused her.
• It had communicated well with Miss D initially, but its communication was poor with her from May 2023. This also included its delayed complaints handling. It explained this was because its allocated housing officer had left the Council and it was dealing with a backlog of complaints. It had arranged for temporary staffing support in November 2023 and were currently recruiting to mitigate this.
31. Miss D has since said the Council offered her a temporary accommodation property in late January 2024. However, it subsequently retracted the offer. She was told this was due to past rent arrears from several years ago. She said she is still in the interim accommodation the Council provided, but it is yet to issue its housing decision.

Analysis and findings

Interim accommodation

32. The Council has accepted it was at fault for how it considered Miss D’s homeless application in February 2023 and failed to issue her a personal housing plan. This is because she was homeless at the time, and it had “reason to believe” she was eligible for assistance and in priority need. This meant it had a duty to provide interim accommodation from February 2023 until it had made a decision on whether she was in priority need.
33. While the Council assessed her case in full in April 2023 and found she and her partner was not in priority need. This decision was based on incorrect information and was not shared with her in writing, and she did therefore not have her appeal rights available to her.
34. The evidence shows the Council did make efforts during the relief stage to support Miss D to find accommodation. However, it was not until January 2024 the Council placed her in interim accommodation.
35. I agree with the Council findings that Miss D should have provided her with interim accommodation in February 2023. This fault continued until early 2024 when it properly reconsidered her case, realised its errors, provided her with interim accommodation, and correctly issued its decisions to her.
36. The Council’s fault meant Miss D had nowhere to live and had to stay in unsuitable conditions for 10 months which caused her distress, uncertainty and impacted her health.
37. Miss D has since had the right to ask the Council to review this decision and it was reasonable for her to exercise that right. If the Council made an adverse decision at the review stage, Mrs X can then appeal to the county court on a point of law.

Housing register and main housing duty

38. The Council also agrees it had failed to make its main housing duty decision when the relief duty would have ended for Miss D in April 2023. It said she would have been on Band A of its housing register at the time.
39. Miss D joined the Council’s housing register in September 2023, and she was placed in Band B. This matter is currently under review. I cannot therefore consider this banding decision.
40. However, the Council’s fault meant Miss D lost out on the opportunity to be offered a property by the Council during a five-month period. This is because the Council’s Allocations Policy says it will offer Band A applicants the first suitable property that becomes available.
41. I understand the Council made an offer of a temporary accommodation to Miss D in late January 2024 when it had reviewed the case. However, it then found she was not entitled to the offer due to past rent arrears.
42. I cannot consider the Council’s decision to retract its offer as this was not part of Miss D’s complaint. However, I understand it is yet to issue its housing decision to Miss D which sets out her appeal rights or offer her an alternative property. This is fault as it must issue such decisions without delay. I am satisfied this has caused Miss D some further distress and uncertainty.

Communication with Miss D

43. The Council accepts its communication with Miss D was poor in periods from May 2023. It explained this was due to its allocated housing officer leaving its service and a shortage of staff available. This was therefore fault.
44. While I acknowledge, the Council’s difficulties due to staffing changes, I found this Miss D experienced some further distress due to the uncertainty and frustration this caused.

Complaints handling

45. Miss D complained to the Council in August 2023 and the Council acknowledged her complaint. She should therefore have received its response in September 2023.
46. The Council accepts it failed to adhere to its complaints procedure as it failed to provide its response to her complaint.
47. The evidence shows the Council’s Complaints Team attempted to get the information needed from the Council’s Housing Team to enable it to respond to her complaint on several occasions. The fault and delay in providing the Council’s response to Miss D was therefore due to delays by the Housing Team.
48. I am satisfied the Council’s failed complaints handling caused Miss D some further distress and frustration.

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Agreed action

49. To remedy the injustice the Council caused to Miss D, the Council should, within one month of the final decision:
1. Apologise in writing to Miss D for the distress and uncertainty caused by:
• the delay in accepting its interim accommodation duty and providing the accommodation between February and late December 2023;
• the delay in issuing her personal housing plan;
• its failure to reach its main housing duty decision and share its decisions with her; and
• its poor communication and failure to respond to her complaint as set out in the Council’s Complaints Policy.
1. Pay Miss D £1500, which is £150 per month, for the time she spent without interim accommodation, which is in line with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies recommendation for each month spent in unsuitable accommodation.
2. Pay Miss D £500 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty she experienced as a result of her lost opportunity to receive a temporary accommodation offer and to exercise her appeal rights against the Council’s housing decisions between February 2023 to late January 2024.
3. Pay Miss D a further £300 to acknowledge the time and trouble she had to get the Council to address and respond to her complaint.

In total the Council should pay Miss D £2,300.

4. Without delay and in writing, issue Miss D its housing decision regarding its late January 2024 temporary accommodation offer, which should set out her appeal rights.
4. Within three months of the final decision the Council should also:
1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5. provide the Ombudsman with an update on the steps the Council has taken to resolve its staffing issues and recruitment in its Housing Team. This is to ensure it can progress homeless applications and complaints without delay; and
6. remind its housing staff of the Council’s duty to share all housing decisions with applicants in writing to ensure transparency in decision making and provide appeal rights without delay.
5. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

52. There was fault which caused Miss D an injustice. The Council has agreed with my recommendations, it is on this basis I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman