Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council considered her child, W’s housing needs when they were homeless. The Council was at fault. This caused Mrs X frustration, for which the Council will apologise.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the Council considered her child, W’s housing needs when they were homeless between March 2023 and February 2024. Mrs X said that as a result, the Council told her to bid on unsuitable social housing and bid on her behalf on unsuitable properties which did not meet W’s needs. Mrs X also complained the Council decided she needed three bedrooms, not four.
2. Mrs X said this caused her significant upset and stress.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered:
• all the information Mrs X provided and offered to discuss the complaint with her;
• the Council’s comments about the complaint and the supporting documents it provided; and
• the Council’s policies, relevant law and guidance and the Ombudsman's guidance on remedies.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Homelessness

7. 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. 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. This is the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193).
9. The main housing duty ends when one of a range of situations occurs. One is that the applicant accepts an offer under the council’s allocation scheme. The accommodation offered must be suitable for the needs and circumstances of the household. The council must inform the applicant of their right to request a review of the suitability of the property.

Allocations

10. 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))
11. The Council is a partner in a local choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which are advertised.
12. The Council’s allocation policy says:
• people who apply to join the housing register will be assessed to ensure people with the greatest housing need are prioritised. To do this, the Council will carry out an assessment of each applicant and place them in a priority band;
• the assessment will also determine how many bedrooms the applicant needs and whether anyone in the household has disabilities that mean they need a certain type of home, or a home with certain adaptations;
• applicants receive one bedroom for them and their partner, another for up to a pair of adolescents between 10 and 20 of the same sex and another for up to two children aged under 10 years of age; and
• applicants will be expected to actively bid for suitable homes in terms of the number of bedrooms and type of home. Applicants should understand they may not get a home in their preferred area. If applicants are not using all their bids then the Council may place bids on their behalf.

Education, Health and Care Plans

13. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s educational, health and social care needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.

What happened

14. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
15. In 2022, Mrs X was living in a rented property with her Disabled child, W, and two adolescent same sex children of the same gender. Mrs X received an eviction notice from her landlord. Mrs X contacted the Council, which agreed she was threatened with homelessness.
16. Mrs X was evicted from the rented property in late March 2023 and the Council decided it owed her the main housing duty. It placed her in temporary accommodation and began to assess what priority banding she should have on its housing register. Subsequently, Mrs X sent the Council the following documents related to W’s needs:
• a letter detailing W’s hospital discharge following a minor procedure. It listed W’s diagnoses of autism, ADHD, a genetic condition and issues with sleep;
• a DWP letter setting out W’s entitlement to disability benefits;
• the front page of an assessment tool used by the Council’s children’s social care team;
• a letter from W’s ADHD specialist who explained some of their daily challenges and said they needed to be rehoused; and
• the front page of W’s Education, Health and Care Plan dating from 2015.
17. In April 2023, the Council sent Mrs X a letter which confirmed she was in the highest priority band. The Council said Mrs X could bid on three bedroom properties and did not list any requirements of those homes to meet W’s needs.
18. Mrs X felt that W’s need meant she needed a house with a garden and ground floor in the same area as her family and support network. As a result, she bid on a smaller number of properties than the Council felt she should have.
19. In mid-August 2023, a member of staff at the Council (officer A) told Mrs X they had identified two properties she had to bid on and gave her the details of several private rental properties she could consider. Mrs X was unhappy with this and said she would not consider any of those properties.
20. Mrs X submitted a complaint to the Council where she said she was unhappy officer A had said they would bid on her behalf if she did not make more bids.
21. A few days later, the Council asked Mrs X if she could send a copy of a more up to date EHC Plan for W. Mrs X did not respond.
22. The Council’s complaint responses said it was acting in accordance with its policy. The Council said it tried to make sure all offers of properties were suitable for an applicant’s bedroom need, were affordable and if possible, were in their preferred location.
23. In September 2023, officer A attended a meeting set up by children’s social care after it had completed the assessment tool. Mrs X attended along with someone from W’s school. Records of the meeting show officer A said Mrs X “must be bidding on three properties per week” and in response Mrs X said she was bidding on properties that were suitable for W. Mrs X said the move into temporary accommodation had been hard for W, so she was only bidding on housing near family and friends.
24. Officer A said the Council “do not take [a] child’s needs into consideration, they focus instead on how many bedrooms the family require”. Officer A said if Mrs X did not bid on three properties per week, the Council would do it for her.
25. The Council says that during the meeting, officer A explained that the Council could not consider W’s non-physical disabilities and that ground floor properties were reserved for people with mobility needs.
26. Officer A began bidding for Mrs X that month.
27. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in late January 2024. Her complaint included that she felt she should have a four-bedroom house because her two adolescent children should not have to share a room.
28. At some point between September 2023 and January 2024, the Council asked its education service for a copy of W’s EHC Plan. The service directed the Council to W’s school.
29. Mrs X bid and accepted an offer on a property in early 2024. She moved home in early February 2024 and the Council issued its decision to end the main housing duty because she had accepted a suitable offer of social housing.
30. The Council contacted W’s school in late February to ask for a copy of W’s EHC Plan. It said Mrs X had refused consent for it to share the EHC Plan.

Findings

Consideration of W’s disabilities

31. The Council’s policy is clear that it expects applicants on its housing register to bid as much as possible on suitable houses and that it will bid on their behalf if they are not bidding enough. Mrs X is unhappy the Council bid on properties for her because she was only bidding on properties she felt met W’s needs. The Council decides what sort of home would be suitable for a household, including how many bedrooms they should have and whether there are any requirements stemming from disabilities.
32. Mrs X sent the Council several documents which indicated W had a number of health conditions which impacted on their daily life. Mrs X felt W’s needs meant they needed a home on the ground floor, with a garden and in an area near to her family and friends. The Council failed to consider this information properly, which was fault.
33. Officer A told Mrs X the Council did not consider the needs of children in deciding whether a home is suitable. However, social housing for a homeless person must be suitable for the household’s needs and circumstances. W is part of Mrs X’s household so the Council should have considered her needs in deciding what sort of home Mrs X needed.
34. In addition, the Council said it does not consider non-physical needs and that it reserves ground floor properties for people with mobility needs. W has needs which affect their daily life but which do not impact on their mobility. There are many disabilities and health conditions which impact on a person’s housing need without being related to their mobility. For example, a person with non-physical disabilities may be less able to understand risk and may engage in dangerous behaviour. This might mean they are not safe in a home with stairs or balconies. The Council should consider the needs of each person in an applicant’s household on a case-by-case basis regardless of whether they are physical in nature. The Council’s failure to consider W’s needs properly caused Mrs X avoidable frustration. However, none of the information she sent the Council set out that W’s needs impacted on the housing they needed. I therefore cannot say, even on balance, that but for the fault, the Council would have agreed W needed a ground floor home with garden in an area near to Mrs X’s family and friends. In any event, Mrs X was able to move into a home of her choosing.
35. The Council also delayed seeking information about W’s needs. While Mrs X was responsible for sending suitable evidence, when she only sent the first page of an out of date EHC Plan, the Council should have acted promptly to seek a more up to date version from Mrs X or its education service. It did not do this until August 2023 and then did not ask W’s school for a copy until February 2024, after it had ended the main housing duty. This delay was fault. However, it did not cause Mrs X a significant personal injustice because she did not respond to the Council’s request for the Plan in August 2024 and ultimately did not consent to the school sharing the EHC Plan with the Council.

Bedrooms

36. Mrs X feels the Council should have decided she should have four bedrooms, not three. The Council decided how many bedrooms in accordance with its allocation scheme, so was not at fault. It allocated one room to Mrs X, one to W and one to her two adolescent children of the same sex.

Back to top

Agreed action

37. Within one month of the date of my final decision, the Council will apologise to Mrs X for the frustration she felt due to its failure to properly consider the impact of W’s needs on their housing needs. 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.
38. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

Back to top

Final decision

39. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault leading to personal injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman