Summary: Ms X complained the Council provided unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation when she was homeless and failed to move her to suitable accommodation once her baby was born. The Council was at fault and Ms X and her baby remained in bed and breakfast accommodation for 25 weeks longer than the legislation allows. The Council will apologise to Ms X and pay her £2,750 to recognise the frustration and distress she was caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council provided unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation when she was homeless and failed to move her to suitable accommodation once her baby was born. Ms X complained the Council later unfairly decided she had left her temporary accommodation and so it no longer owed her a housing duty. Ms X further complained the Council’s communication with her was poor. Ms X said this caused her anxiety and distress and meant that she and her baby had to live in unsuitable accommodation.

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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. 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)
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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to end its housing duty to her for the reason set out in paragraph three. Ms X had a right of appeal to the County Court about the Council’s decision and it was reasonable for her to use this.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I read the documents Ms X provided.
7. I considered the documents the Council sent in response to my enquiries.
8. Ms X 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 legislation and guidance

Homelessness duties

9. 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.
10. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
11. 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)
12. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
13. 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)
14. 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)
15. 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.
16. 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 and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
17. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it. This is important because there is a statutory right to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. This then carries a right of appeal to county court on a point of law. There is no statutory right to review the suitability of interim accommodation.
18. Examples of applicants in priority need include people with dependent children and/or pregnant women.

Suitability of accommodation

19. 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)
20. Wherever possible, Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast accommodation. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.33)
21. Bed and breakfast (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

22. Ms X approached the Council in early 2023 and said she was at risk of homelessness.
23. The Council decided at the beginning of August 2023 that Ms X was homeless and was eligible for assistance and because Ms X was pregnant, she was in priority need. The Council told Ms X it decided it owed her the relief duty and would provide interim accommodation.
24. The Council provided Ms X with a double room in a property. It was not self-contained and Ms X shared a bathroom and kitchen with other residents and so it was classed as bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation. Ms X said the Council told her the temporary accommodation was only suitable for her for six weeks due to the rules around the use of this type of accommodation.
25. In September Ms X had a baby, she told the Council the accommodation was unsuitable for her and her baby. Ms X contacted the Council 13 times between mid-September and the end of November stating the accommodation was unsuitable and it had told her she should not stay there longer than six weeks. Ms X said the window in her room did not lock and so the room was cold, she was far away from her family and her room was on the first floor which meant she had to leave her baby unattended to get the pram up and down the stairs.
26. The Council responded to Ms X at the end of November and said due to high demand it did not have any suitable properties and so had not moved her. It said it would move Ms X as soon as alternative accommodation was available.
27. The Council wrote to Ms X again in December and told her the relief duty had ended and it now owed her the main housing duty. It continued to provide the room in the B&B as temporary accommodation.
28. Ms X’s MP complained to the Council on her behalf. At the end of January the Council explained it did not have alternative accommodation for Ms X and it would contact the landlord about the broken window lock.
29. An internal email in mid-February records the Council intended to move Ms X to the next available one bed self-contained property. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint. It said there were far more people looking for properties than there were properties available. It said although Ms X had been placed in a neighbouring area it would contact her if suitable accommodation in its area became available.
30. Ms X provided the Council a copy of a doctor’s letter at the end of February which said the B&B was negatively impacting her mental health.
31. The Council wrote to Ms X in mid-March and told her it had decided she had stopped living at the property, and so it had ended its main housing duty to her and no longer had to secure accommodation for her at the B&B. It provided Ms X with a right of review of the decision.
32. Ms X complained to us and we asked the Council to consider Ms X’s complaint.
33. The Council responded to Ms X, but it did not reconsider its stage one response. It explained its decision to end its duty to Ms X, that it had provided her with review rights, she had used them and now had the right to appeal to a court on a point of law.
34. In response to my enquiries the Council accepted it should have moved Ms X out of the B&B accommodation after six weeks but it did not have any other accommodation available to offer her at the time.

My findings

35. The Council decided that it owed Ms X a housing duty and provided her with interim accommodation – which then became temporary accommodation from December. This was at a B&B as it had no other suitable available properties. Because Ms X was pregnant the legislation says the Council should not have used B&B accommodation for more than six weeks, and so Ms X should have been moved to a suitable property by mid-September 2023. Ms X and her baby remained in unsuitable B&B until the Council ended its housing duty to her 25 weeks later, which was fault. This fault caused Ms X and her child to reside in unsuitable accommodation and caused Ms X frustration and distress.
36. Ms X repeatedly contacted the Council about the suitability of the property, and the broken window lock. The Council did not respond for months at a time. It also told her MP that it would speak with the landlord about the broken window lock, but has provided no evidence that it had done so. The poor communication and lack of action on the window lock was fault and caused Ms X additional frustration and distress.
37. As set out in paragraph five, I have not investigated the Council’s decision to end its housing duty to Ms X.
38. Following a recent Ombudsman investigation, the Council agreed to carry out a review of its procurement of temporary accommodation and identify ways of increasing the supply of different types of self-contained temporary accommodation. I have therefore not repeated the same service improvement recommendation in this case.

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Agreed action

39. Within one month of this decision the Council will:
• Write to Ms X and apologise for the injustice caused to her by its faults and pay her a symbolic amount of £2,750 to recognise the same. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council will consider this guidance in making the apology.
• Remind relevant officers of the importance of responding to people’s contact and keeping them updated on a regular basis, particularly where they remain in B&B accommodation beyond six weeks.
40. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

41. I have completed my investigation. I found fault causing injustice and have made recommendations to the Council to remedy that injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman