Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council handled her homelessness application after she fled domestic abuse. The Council was not at fault for the way it dealt with Miss X’s homelessness. There was fault in the way it allocated her interim accommodation which required significant repairs and in the way it communicated with Miss X about the need to move interim accommodation. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty this caused. It has also agreed to review the case to identify any lessons to be learned regarding the suitability of interim accommodation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the way the Council handled her homelessness application after she fled domestic abuse. She says the Council failed to keep her updated and the interim accommodation was inappropriate for a domestic abuse victim and not fit for purpose. This caused her distress, frustration and uncertainty.

Back to top

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. We will not investigate a matter if we consider there is another body better placed to consider the complaint. The Information Commisioner’s Office can consider complaints about the accuracy of information held about an individual.
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

What I have not investigated

5. Miss X raised concerns with the Council that it had included inaccurate information in her personalised housing plan. I have not investigated this matter. Complaints about the accuracy of records are matters best dealt with by the Information Commissioner which was set up specifically to consider such matters.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered the information provided by Miss X. I have considered the Council’s response to my enquiries and the relevant law and guidance.
7. I gave Miss X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered any comments I received in reaching a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Duty to make enquiries

8. Where the council has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it should make enquiries to enable it to decide if they are eligible for assistance and, if so, what duty it owes them (Housing Act 1996, section 184). Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)

Relief duty

9. If a council is satisfied an applicant is eligible for assistance and homeless then the council will owe the relief duty. This requires the council to take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person for at least six months. The relief duty usually lasts for 56 days.

Interim accommodation

10. If the council has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance, and in priority need, it has an immediate duty under section 188 of the Housing Act 1996 to provide interim accommodation, whilst it makes its enquiries. An applicant is in priority need if they are pregnant, have a dependent child or (from July 2021) they are fleeing domestic abuse.

Main housing duty

11. 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)

Review rights

12. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of certain decisions. If the decision is upheld at review, they can appeal to the county court on a point of law.

Housing allocations

13. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing.  Many councils maintain a housing register which records those waiting for housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
14. This council’s housing allocations scheme places applicants into one of four bands, A to D, with A being the highest (urgent need). Band A includes homeless applicants owed the main housing duty. Band B (high need) includes those owed a prevention or relief duty.

What happened

15. The following is a summary of the key events and facts relevant to this complaint.
16. Miss X lived with her parents. In mid-May 2023 she left her parents’ home and booked into a hotel. Miss X contacted the Council. A Council officer noted Miss X said her parents had physically and emotionally abused her and that she had booked into a hotel for a week. The Council officer said Miss X should contact the Council at the end of the week if she needed accommodation.
17. The following week Miss X contacted the Council to say she needed to leave the hotel the next day. An officer called Miss X the next day and completed a housing assessment and personalised housing plan. The assessment noted Miss X had to flee her parents’ home due to abuse and controlling behaviour. It noted Miss X stated she would not be able to return to her parents’ house but was not worried if her parents found out where she lived. She wished to live independently.
18. The officer explained the Council would provide emergency accommodation and how Miss X could apply to join the Council’s housing register. They arranged emergency accommodation for Miss X in a hotel that day. They also referred Miss X to the Council’s Domestic Abuse Link Worker (DA worker). The officer wrote to Miss X accepting the Council owed her the relief duty. Miss X applied to join the housing register.
19. Five days later the Council contacted Miss X about a property that had become available. The property was a room in a shared house with access to a bathroom and kitchen. The Council wrote to Miss X to offer the accommodation. It said it was satisfied this was suitable and reasonable for her to occupy. Miss X signed a licence agreement with the Council for the interim accommodation. The following day the DA worker contacted Miss X to introduce themselves.
20. In early June the Council’s homelink team, responsible for the housing register, requested information from Miss X to support her application.
21. Miss X says there were particular issues with the water at the property. The mixer taps did not work properly so it was either too hot or too cold with a bad smell coming from the sinks and washing machine. Miss X says the Council was aware of the water issues.
22. The DA Worker contacted Miss X in late May and continued to contact her throughout June and July 2023. They noted Miss X was struggling to come to terms with what had happened. The DA worker sent Miss X links to local groups she may be interested in. In early July they noted Miss X was as settled as she could be in temporary accommodation.
23. Miss X contacted her housing officer three times in June. She asked if the Council required any further information.
24. In early July 2024 the homelink team emailed Miss X that it still needed a full bank statement as it had only received part of one. The housing officer also replied to Miss X to confirm that the homelink team still required a full bank statement to activate her application. The housing officer explained it was not them that needed the documents as their role was to deal with the homelessness side of things. They explained it was the homelink team that needed the bank statement so Miss X could join the housing register. Miss X provided this and the Council added Miss X to its housing register in band B as she was owed the relief duty.
25. In late July 2023 the Council told Miss X and other residents that the interim accommodation needed maintenance work and they would be relocated. It says its temporary accommodation team received very little notice of the essential repairs or when work would commence so it was difficult to advise residents. Miss X sought further information that day, through the DA worker, about how much notice they would be given and whether travel costs would be met by the Council. The Council advised there was no set date for her move yet but it was imminent and work would start at the property the following day. It would try to give her as much notice as possible.
26. Two days later Miss X contacted the Council as other residents were moving out and she had no update. She said that over the past months Council staff had mentioned issues. In summary she referred to water damage in the building’s ceiling, possible rodents in the ceiling, her mattress being in a poor condition, plumbing issues, damp, unpleasant smelling tap water and the property was adjacent to a night club. She asked questions about where she would be relocated to.
27. The DA worker also contacted the Housing Officer and reported Miss X was unsettled as she did not know where she would be moving to. The Housing Officer advised it would likely be towards the end of the week. In early August the Council told Miss X it had found her a self-contained property which she moved into the next day with the Council arranging transport to assist her; this was eight days after she was told of the need to move.
28. The next day the Council decided it owed Miss X the main housing duty. It emailed Miss X and explained its decision, that it had ended its relief duty and explained her interim accommodation would become temporary accommodation. Later that week the Council increased her housing priority on the Council’s housing register to band A as it owed her the main housing duty.
29. The DA worker spoke to Miss X four days after she moved into her new accommodation. They noted she was settled in the new accommodation and reported the facilities were much better. The DA worker met with Miss X two days later. The DA worker left the Council later that month.
30. Later in August Miss X successfully bid on a property through the Council’s housing allocations scheme and moved in. The Council therefore ended its housing duty in mid-September 2023.
31. In late January 2024 Miss X complained to the Council. Her complaints included the poor quality of the interim accommodation, which she said was not fit for purpose with poor water facilities, near a nightclub and was mixed sex accommodation living alongside substance and alcohol abusers. She also complained about the attitude of staff, delay in actioning her housing register application and the lack of notice regarding the relocation.
32. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in early March 2024. It said she was moved and supported through the homeless process quickly and efficiently. A referral was made to the DA worker appropriately to ensure she had access to support. It said there was no evidence staff had treated her with contempt, emails recorded she had access to support from staff should it be needed and she had not expressed any dissatisfaction with staff through the process. It acknowledged the housing officer had not always responded but advised they had acted on her requests. It said it had taken her circumstances seriously. It said it had no record of her raising a concern about being housed in mixed sex accommodation and if she had raised this it would have considered alternative options.
33. The Council said it was satisfied it had acted in accordance with the licence agreement when it relocated her. It said the licence stated ‘it is a term of the licence that the landlord may at any time and at its absolute discretion require the licensee to move to an alternative room or premises’. It appreciated she did not feel the notice period was adequate, but it needed to ensure residents’ safety when urgent works were required. It said it provided her with details of alternative accommodation as soon as it was available.
34. Miss X remained unhappy and raised issues including the conduct of officers, the lack of information and said the licence agreement was unlawful. She said there was a lack of understanding and the Council had a complete disregard for domestic abuse.
35. The Council responded at the second stage of its complaints process. It said it did not consider the licence agreement unlawful. Extensive repairs were necessary so the Council had to relocate residents. It said no other residents raised complaints about the water temperature at the interim accommodation. It said Miss X had raised general concerns about staff attitude but it could only investigate specific issues, which she had not reported. It said there were several discussions between officers and managers within the Housing Department as a consequence of the issues Miss X raised to ensure clarity, empathy and sensitivity.
36. It said it was unfortunate Miss X perceived she did not receive the assistance and support from the Council which she should have done. It said the Housing team accepted this might inadvertently have been the case and it had discussed her concerns to reduce the risk of such a situation occurring in future. It apologised to Miss X for this.
37. In response to our enquiries the Council said the Temporary Accommodation team received very little warning that residents would need to leave due to essential works at the interim accommodation. It acknowledged communication with residents could have been better and said this was a learning point it would use in future should the same situation occur again.

Findings

38. When Miss X approached the Council it provided appropriate advice and then interim accommodation when Miss X needed it. It considered Miss X’s circumstances and concluded it owed Miss X the relief duty. It then decided it owed Miss X the main housing duty in a timely manner. The Council was not at fault.
39. The Council accepted Miss X on the housing register in July 2023 once it had received all the documents it required. It properly assessed her application as band B and later band A once it accepted the main housing duty. The Council was not at fault.
40. The Council considered the interim accommodation was suitable to meet Miss X’s needs. There was no evidence Miss X could not share or needed single sex accommodation. The records show no evidence Miss X raised any concerns with her housing officer or the DA worker about sharing the accommodation with people of other genders.
41. Miss X considers the contract for the interim accommodation was unlawful and that the Council failed to provide running water. The legality of the contract would be for a court to decide and not the Ombudsman. The Council says its Temporary Accommodation Team received very little notice that residents would need to leave the interim accommodation, due to the extent of the repairs required. The Council took appropriate action in carrying out repairs and moving residents to other accommodation. However, the Council was the landlord. It is likely the Council knew some significant repairs were needed given Miss X recalls staff raising concerns including about damp and the boiler and the issues she faced with the water at the property. If the extent of the repairs was so significant that residents needed to move out this indicates the property was not suitable at least some of the time Miss X was living there. This was fault and is likely to have caused Miss X some distress and inconvenience.
42. In responding to our enquiries, the Council has acknowledged that communication with residents about the relocation could have been better. The failure to communicate properly with residents is fault and is likely to have caused Miss X distress and uncertainty.
43. Miss X raised concerns about the attitude of staff and about communication. It is very difficult for me to reach any conclusion on such matters. I do not know exactly what was said and cannot now ascertain the attitude of staff. The records show the Council officers took the appropriate action in response to Miss X’s contacts although there were occasions when she did not receive a quick response or had to contact the Council more than once. In its complaint response the Council apologised to Miss X if she felt she had not received all the assistance and support she felt she should have done. That is a sufficient remedy for any injustice caused and there is nothing else I could achieve by investigating this issue further.

Back to top

Agreed action

44. Within one month of the final decision on this complaint the Council has agreed to:
1. apologise to Miss X and pay her £200 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused by it placing her in interim accommodation which required significant repairs and by its failure to communicate effectively regarding her relocation from interim accommodation. 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.
2. review this case to identify any lessons which can be learned to ensure the Council maintains oversight of its interim accommodation and has procedures in place to alert the temporary accommodation team about issues which may affect suitability promptly.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

46. I have completed my investigation. There was fault causing injustice which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman