Summary: Ms X complains the Council did not deal properly with her housing. The Council delayed moving her to different accommodation, failed to advise her of a right of review and did not respond to communication from her. Ms X and her family had to live in unsuitable accommodation. The Council should apologise to Ms X and pay her £3,900.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complains the Council has not dealt properly with her housing because:
• It delayed moving her to more appropriate temporary accommodation; and
• It did not respond properly to communications from her.
2. Ms X says she and her family have had to live in unsuitable accommodation that is too small, and have suffered distress.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
5. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
6. 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

7. I considered documents Ms X provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
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

Law, guidance and policies

9. 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)
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.
11. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of 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.

What happened?

12. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
13. Ms X and her partner asked the Council for housing assistance in April 2022. The Council provided interim accommodation in a hotel under s188.
14. Ms X became pregnant and her baby was born in January 2023. The Council wrote to Ms X’s partner accepting that they were homeless and eligible for assistance. It accepted a s189B(2) duty to help secure suitable accommodation was available.
15. In February the Council moved Ms X and her partner to self contained emergency accommodation at location A.
16. In early March Ms X raised concerns with the Council about the suitability of the accommodation they had been placed in, regarding size, damp and cold.
17. The Council accepted the main s 193 housing duty.to Ms X and her partner and reassessed their housing situation.
18. Ms X chased the Council in September regarding the issues she had raised relating to the suitability of the accommodation.
19. The Council said it had allocated her a suitable 1 bedroom Council property and expected it to be available before the end of September.
20. Ms X complained to the Council in November 2023. The Council partially upheld her complaint.

Analysis

21. The Council accepted in its stage 1 complaint response that there had been a delay moving her to alternative accommodation and apologised for this. It also accepted that it had not responded to her emails quickly enough. This is fault by the Council.
22. The Council’s stage 2 complaint response identified reasons for the delay in moving Ms X and her family to alternative accommodation and accepted there had been a lack of reasoning in responses sent to her. This is fault by the Council.
23. A caseworker to the Leader of the Council who reviewed the issues Ms X raised with the Council said they were, “concerned that the bedsit where the family and their baby have been placed is not suitable.”
24. There is no evidence the Council took actions to look into Ms X’s concerns until October 2023. On the balance of probabilities, the temporary accommodation offered at the time was not suitable.
25. The Council has accepted in its enquiry response to the Ombudsman that Ms X and her partner were not advised of their right of review regarding the suitability of their accommodation when the Council accepted the s193 housing duty. This is fault by the Council. Ms X suffered uncertainty.
26. In relation to the alternative accommodation offered to Ms X, the Council says, “The property was void on 21/06/23. Works commenced in June 2023 and were completed by the end of August 2023. The property was passed to Tenancy Management for allocation for damp and mould decants with keys and fobs with the Tenancy Management.”
27. It also says, “Keys and fobs were passed by the Void Team to Tenancy Management and logged on a decant spreadsheet by Tenancy Management. The Temporary Accommodation sign-up team subsequently made enquiries with the Void Team requesting the location of keys. These were recorded as passed to Tenancy Management but there were issues with locating the same. The Void Team and Tenancy Management teams have had absences within team members within this period. An order for replacement keys and fobs was also placed by the sign-up team.”
28. There has been clear delay between September 2023 and April 2024 in providing the alternative accommodation for Ms X and her family. This is fault by the Council.
29. Ms X and her family were therefore left in unsuitable accommodation for a total of 13 months.
30. The Council says Improved key control and the recording of accurate information on relevant property job numbers has been implemented to provide clear information between teams and reduce any delays in the future.

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Agreed action

31. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of this decision:
• Apologise to Ms X for the fault found in this decision We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Ms X and her partner £300 in respect of each month they were living in unsuitable accommodation, a period of seven months, totalling £3,900.
32. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

33. I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Ms X and her family. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman