Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to review the suitability of her privately rented accommodation despite multiple requests to do so. Miss X says this has meant her and her disabled son remained in unsuitable accommodation between March 2023 and September 2024. The Council was at fault for failing to carry out a suitability review in line with the law and the homelessness code. This has caused Miss X distress, frustration and uncertainty.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to review the suitability of her privately rented accommodation despite multiple requests to do so. Miss X says the Council’s refusal to carry out the review has meant her and her disabled son have remained in unsuitable accommodation between March 2023 and September 2024. This has caused Miss X distress, frustration 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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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered information Miss X has provided.
5. I considered information from the Council.
6. I considered the relevant law and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on this draft decision. I considered comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant Law and Guidance

Relief duty and suitability reviews

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. A local authority may end its prevention or relief duties with a final offer of suitable accommodation, where there is a reasonable prospect of that accommodation being available for at least six months.
11. 17.5 of the Code says housing authorities will need to carefully consider the suitability of accommodation for households with particular medical and/or physical needs. Physical access to and around the home, space, bathroom and kitchen facilities, access to a garden and modifications to assist people with sensory loss as well as mobility needs are all factors which they might need to take into account.
12. A homeless applicant can request a review of the suitability of accommodation provided in discharge of the local authority's duties under Part 7 and offered in order to end duties. According to 17.70 of the Code, the applicant may either accept or reject the final offer of suitable accommodation and in either case still request a review.
13. Homeless applicants may request a suitability review within 21 days of being notified of the final accommodation offer.
14. Councils must complete suitability reviews within eight weeks of the date of the review request.

The Housing Health and Safety Rating System

15. The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) is a system for assessing housing conditions. 
16. Under the HHSRS a local authority:
• carries out inspections of rented housing
• identifies whether any specified hazards are present
• categorises those hazards according to objective criteria
17. A hazard is any risk of harm to the health or safety of an actual or potential occupier of accommodation that arises from a deficiency in the dwelling, building or land in the vicinity. Health includes mental health.

Council’s complaints procedure

18. The Council’s complaints procedure is as follows:
• At stage one, the Council will deal with a person’s complaint within 10 working days.
• At stage two, the Council will arrange for a senior officer to do a further investigation within 28 days if things are not resolved.

What happened

19. Miss X approached the Council in October 2022 and completed a homelessness application because she was fleeing violence from her neighbours. The Council placed Miss X and her son into interim accommodation that month.
20. The Council accepted the relief duty in November 2022. In February 2023, it matched Miss X to a privately rented property. Miss X received a final offer for the property which she accepted and moved into in March 2023.
21. The Council sent Miss X a letter ending its duty towards her and provided her with details on how to request a suitability review.
22. At the time Miss X accepted the property, she requested a suitability review because she said the house was inhabitable and required repairs. She referenced the impact this would have on her health condition, an autoimmune disease and her son who has autism.
23. Prior to Miss X moving in and in the weeks after she had moved in, a contractor completed repairs on the property.
24. Miss X continued to raise issues with the property in March and April 2023. Issues included damp walls, windows needing resealing and a hole in the sink.
25. In May 2023, Miss X raised a stage one complaint because the Council had still not carried out a suitability review of the property. She said the Council continued letting her live in unsafe and unsuitable housing despite knowing about her health conditions and her son’s autism.
26. In July 2023, the Council carried out an inspection of Miss X’s home using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) to check for hazards. It wrote to Miss X with the findings the following month. The Council assessed the hazards as low and said the property was in an acceptable condition.
27. In December 2023, the Council issued a stage one complaint response. It apologised for the delay in responding. It explained this was due to the Council incorrectly treating the initial complaint as a service request rather than a stage one complaint. The Council did not uphold her complaint as it had carried out an inspection and found no significant disrepair existed.
28. The same month Miss X escalated her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure.
29. The Council issued a stage two complaint response in April 2024 saying it could not carry out a suitability review once Miss X had accepted an offer on the property. The Council said, had Miss X refused the property based on the belief it was unsuitable for her and her son, it could have then carried out a suitability review.
30. Miss X was unhappy with the Council’s handling of the matter and complained to us.
31. Since then, the Landlord has evicted Miss X from the property. As of September 2024, Miss X no longer lives there. The Council says this is partially due to her not allowing contractors into the property to carry out repairs.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

32. The Council accepts it did not follow the suitability review process correctly. It says due to a misunderstanding within the team and confusion about disrepair issues, the Housing Options Service wrongly advised the stage two officer that a suitability review could only be triggered if the person refused the property.
33. The Council apologises for this error and any stress and inconvenience this may have caused Miss X. The Council also says as part of the ongoing investment into the Councils Housing Service it is in the process of recruiting a specific Reviewing Officer to ensure robust monitoring procedures are in place.

My findings

Suitability review

34. Miss X initially requested a suitability review end of February 2023 after receiving a final offer of accommodation. From February 2023 until September 2024 when Miss X left the property, the Council failed to carry out a suitability review in line with relevant law and the homelessness code. The Council should have carried this out no later than mid-April 2023. The Council said it could not carry out the suitability review once Miss X had accepted an offer on the property. However, the Code says an applicant may request a review of the suitability regardless of whether or not they accept the accommodation. The Council has accepted this was fault. This has caused Miss X distress, frustration and uncertainty about whether the outcome would have differed had the Council carried out the suitability review.

The Council’s complaint handling

35. Miss X raised a stage one complaint end of May 2023. The Council should have provided a stage one response within 10 working days which would have been mid-June 2023. The Council did not provide a stage one response until mid-December 2023. This was a delay of approximately six months which was fault.
36. Miss X then raised a stage two complaint a couple of days after receiving the stage one complaint response. The Council should have provided a stage two response within 28 working days which would have been mid-January 2024. The Council did not provide this until April 2024. This was a delay of approximately three months which was fault.
37. These delays caused Miss X distress, frustration, and uncertainty.

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Agreed action

38. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Miss X to recognise the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by the delays in carrying out a suitability review and in its complaint responses. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
2. Pay Miss X £500 to recognise the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by its failure to carry out a housing suitability review as requested.
3. Pay Miss X £100 to recognise the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by the delays in its complaint handling.
4. Review its policies and procedures in relation to suitability reviews to ensure it is correct and send a reminder to all housing staff that suitability reviews should be carried out regardless of whether the applicant has accepted the accommodation.
5. Remind complaint handling staff to ensure they provide complaint responses within timescales.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

40. 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