Summary: Ms X has complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application and issues of disrepair in her property. Ms X also says the Council failed to act when she received a Section 21 notice meaning she returned home to find she and her children could not access their property or belongings. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for delay in handling Ms X’s homelessness application and failing to act after she received a Section 21 notice. The Council has agreed to issue an apology to Ms X, pay her a financial payment and complete service improvements.

The complaint

1. Ms X has complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application and issues of disrepair in her property. Ms X also says the Council failed to act when she received a Section 21 notice meaning she returned home to find she and her children could not access their property or belongings.
2. Ms X says this caused her distress and loss of her possessions.

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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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Ms X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. If someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to get accommodation and gives reason to believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to make inquiries into what, if any, further duty it owes them. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5)
8. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council:

• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• they have been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & 175(5))

9. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. These steps should follow an assessment and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. This is the prevention duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18) Once the Council has accepted it owes the prevention duty, it must help the person for at least 56 days.
10. If the person becomes homeless, the council must help to secure suitable accommodation if it is satisfied that an applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B(1)) This is the relief duty.
11. The relief duty can only be ended in certain circumstances, including if the applicant refuses an offer of suitable accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B(7)(c)) There is no discretion to extend the relief duty beyond 56 days in these circumstances even if the local authority has not complied with it.
12. The relief duty ends automatically after 56 days from when it was accepted if the local authority is satisfied that the applicant is in priority need and not homeless intentionally. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B(4))
13. The council must then issue a decision letter that it accepts the main housing duty. The council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)

Overview: eviction from private rented sector (PRS) accommodation

14. Where a tenant has an assured shorthold tenancy, the landlord can issue a section 21 notice asking the tenant to leave. They do not have to give reasons, but the notice needs to be in a specific form and must satisfy various conditions.
15. In some cases, the landlord can evict without a court hearing – this is called “accelerated possession”. They do need to apply to the court and the tenant can challenge the application. The court will look at the papers and either:

• issue a “possession order” – this sets a date at which the tenant has to leave; or
• set a date for a possession hearing; or
• dismiss the case.

If the tenant does not leave the property by the date given in the possession order, the landlord can apply for a “warrant for possession”. If the court issues a warrant, it will send the tenant an eviction notice with the date they must leave the property by. A bailiff can evict the tenant if they do not leave by that date.

16. Section 175(5) of the Housing Act 1996 says a person is threatened with homelessness if a valid notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 has been served in relation to the only accommodation available for them to occupy and this will expire within 56 days.
17. The Code, at paragraphs 6.35 to 6.38, says:

• it is unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy their accommodation beyond the expiry of a section 21 notice, unless the housing authority is taking steps to persuade the landlord to allow the tenant to continue to occupy the accommodation whilst an alternative is found;
• it is highly unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy beyond the date on which the court has ordered them to leave the property and give possession to the landlord;
• councils should not consider it reasonable for an applicant to remain in occupation up to the point at which the court issues a warrant or writ to enforce an order for possession;
• councils should ensure that homeless families and vulnerable individuals who are owed an interim accommodation or main housing duty are not evicted through the enforcement of an order for possession as a result of failure by the council to make suitable accommodation available to them.

Disrepair

18. Private tenants may complain to their council about a failure by the landlord to keep the property in good repair. Councils have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System to take enforcement action against private landlords where the council has identified a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk.
19. A council may serve a landlord with an improvement notice or a notice of emergency remedial action. This may protect the tenant from retaliatory eviction for six months. (Deregulation Act 2015, section 33)

Protection of belongings

20. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

What happened

21. Ms X contacted the Council in early November 2023 to ask for help with her housing situation. The Council responded the same day to say it would make further contact with Ms X within five days.
22. Ms X contacted the Council again in mid-November as she had not had any response.
23. The Council contacted Ms X a few days later to arrange an appointment to discuss her application.
24. The Council completed an interview with Ms X in late November 2023 which noted issues of disrepair such as damp and mould in the whole house. Ms X also said the house was overcrowded. Ms X advised the Council her landlord had issued a Section 21 notice, but this was on hold.
25. The Council wrote to Ms X’s landlord in mid-December 2023 about the issues of disrepair it noted.
26. The Council contacted Ms X towards the end of December 2023 to discuss her housing application. Ms X asked the Council to refer her application to another Borough.
27. The Council contacted Ms X in mid-January 2024 to confirm it could not make a referral to another Borough for Ms X at that time. The Council also asked for documentation it was waiting for from Ms X to allow it to continue with the housing application.
28. Ms X received a possession order from her landlord in late January 2024 which she sent to the Council in early February. Ms X also said she had raised a complaint with the Council which she had not received a response to.
29. The Council wrote to Ms X in early February 2024 to explain to her it had accepted the relief duty. It also said it would make a referral to another Borough in mid-February 2024 but could not confirm if the other Borough would accept the referral.
30. Ms X’s landlord advised the Council they had completed the repairs requested by the Council in early March 2024. The Council then closed the case about the disrepair of Ms X’s property.
31. The Council contacted Ms X in mid-May 2024 to ask for documents it was waiting on from her and said it would chase the referral made to another Borough.
32. The Council reviewed a copy of the medical report it received in February 2024 in May 2024. This said the issues of damp and mould at Ms X’s property needed to be repaired urgently but medical priority did not apply.
33. The Council spoke to Ms X in early June 2024, and she explained she was unhappy with how the Council had dealt with her complaint. She said her landlord had repaired the category one and two hazards, but they had not repaired other issues.
34. The Council issued a stage one response to Ms X in mid-June which found the housing officer on the case referred the disrepair issues promptly. However, the Council could have accepted the homelessness duty at the time of the home visit to Ms X due to the disrepair issues. The response also noted the Council had not provided Ms X with a Personal Housing Plan (PHP). The Council noted there was a three-month gap where Ms X received no contact from it. In the complaint response the Council told Ms X it would accept the main housing duty and offered Ms X £1,150 to reflect the three-month delay in accepting the homelessness duty in which time Ms X was living in unsuitable accommodation.
35. The Council issued a PHP in mid-June 2024 and confirmed again the landlord had completed works on the category one and two hazards which it had noted.
36. The Council wrote to Ms X in mid-July 2024 to say it had accepted the main housing duty.
37. Ms X asked for her complaint to be escalated to stage two in mid-July 2024 as she was unhappy with the complaint handling or the offer the Council made to resolve the complaint. Ms X also told the Council the possession order she had received expired in mid-July 2024.
38. The Council issued a stage two complaint response in mid-September 2024.
39. Ms X responded to the stage two complaint response the following day to say she was unhappy with the response and told the Council she had received an eviction notice ending early November 2024. The Council responded to say Ms X had no further right to review the complaint and directed her to the Ombudsman.
40. Ms X attended the Council offices in early November to say she had returned home the previous day to find her landlord had changed her locks and she and her family could not enter the property. The Council offered Ms X emergency accommodation, but Ms X declined this due to her health needs.
41. Ms X contacted the Council three days later to complain about a lack of action by the Council. The Council spoke to Ms X the following day and confirmed it did not have any self-contained emergency accommodation available, but it could offer shared emergency accommodation. Ms X declined shared emergency accommodation.
42. Ms X accepted emergency accommodation from the Council two days later. However, she could not recover her possessions from her landlord.

Analysis

Homelessness

43. The Council received Ms X’s application in early November 2023 and said it would contact Ms X within five days to discuss it. This did not happen until around 12 days later. This is fault and caused Ms X inconvenience at having to chase the Council.
44. The Council accepted the relief duty in early February 2024. This can last up to 56 days which would have been early April 2024. The Council should then have issued a decision about the main housing duty. The Council did not decide about the main housing duty until mid-July 2024. This is fault and would have caused Ms X distress and uncertainty.
45. Ms X told the Council in February 2024 she had received a possession order. I cannot see the Council took any action following Ms X advising this. Ms X told the Council again in July 2024 the possession order expired at the end of July 2024. I again cannot see the Council took any action. This is fault. The Code says it is unlikely to be reasonable for an applicant to continue to occupy their accommodation beyond the expiry of a Section 21 notice. Ms X has been caused distress and worry at not knowing what action the landlord would take and whether her landlord would take her property away from her.
46. Ms X told the Council in September 2024 she had received an eviction notice which was due to expire in early November 2024. I cannot see what action the Council took after Ms X told it about the eviction notice. This is fault. The landlord changed the locks in early November 2024 and Ms X and her children could not access the property which caused them extreme distress.
47. Ms X says she was left with no accommodation following her landlord changing the locks. However, the Council did offer Ms X emergency accommodation which she declined due to her health needs. The Council found self-contained accommodation for Ms X and her children within a week. I do not find fault in the actions of the Council in providing emergency accommodation following Ms X’s eviction.
48. The Council in its stage one complaint response has said it could have accepted the homelessness duty at the time it visited Ms X’s property as it should have identified the disrepair issues. It also found it had not issued a PIP in line with guidance. The Council also found there had been a three-month period where Ms X received no contact about her homelessness application. The issues the Council has identified are all faults. The Council apologised for this and offered Ms X £1,150 to reflect the three-month delay in accepting the homelessness duty in which time Ms X was living in unsuitable accommodation.

Disrepair

49. The Council acted on the issues of disrepair it noted and contacted Ms X’s landlord to order them to complete necessary works by mid-January 2024.
50. The Council received evidence from the landlord to show they had completed the works ordered by the Council. I have not found any fault in the way the Council dealt with the disrepair issues.

Protection of belongings

51. The Council knew from September 2024 Ms X had received an eviction notice which expired in early November 2024. At this point it had accepted the main housing duty, but it had not offered Ms X any accommodation.
52. When Ms X told the Council her landlord had changed the locks on her property it should have been aware there was a danger that Ms X’s property could be lost or damaged. I cannot see the Council took any action to help Ms X protect her possessions which is fault. This caused Ms X distress and uncertainty. I cannot say had the Council taken action that Ms X would not have lost her possessions.

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Action

53. Within one month of a final decision, the Council should:

• Write to Ms X to apologise for the faults identified.
• Pay Ms X the £1,150 the Council offered for Ms X living in unsuitable accommodation between November and January.
• Pay Ms X £500 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused to her by the Council’s failure to act after receiving a possession and eviction order.
• Pay Ms X £500 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused to her by the Council’s failure to take any action to protect her possessions.
• In writing, remind relevant officers about the contents of paragraph 6.35 to 6.38 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.
• In writing, remind officers of the importance of making timely decisions in accordance with the Housing Act and having regular contact with applicants.

54. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

55. I find fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman