Summary: Ms X complained the Council delayed moving her and her adult son from unsuitable temporary accommodation it provided to relieve her homelessness. The Council was at fault. It delayed reviewing the suitability of Ms X’s accommodation and failed to move her as soon as it accepted the property was unsuitable. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Ms X £2750 to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused and to recognise the delay in moving her.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed moving her and her adult son from unsuitable temporary accommodation it provided to relieve her homelessness. She said it had mould, damp and bed bugs and it affected her existing health conditions.

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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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

What I have and have not investigated

5. I have exercised my discretion to consider what happened since July 2022 when the Council first responded to Ms X’s complainant and advised it would develop an action plan with the housing provider to resolve her issues. The situation was ongoing and Ms X continued to raise her concerns through her MP and with the Council and believed the Council would address the situation. Ms X was also vulnerable due to her health conditions and was homeless due to domestic abuse. I have considered what happened up until September 2024 when the Council offered Ms X alternative temporary accommodation.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered the information provided by Ms X and discussed the complaint with her on the telephone. I have considered the information provided by the Council in response to our enquiries and the relevant law and guidance.
7. I gave Ms 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

The relevant law and guidance

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. Where a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, in priority need and not intentionally homeless, it may owe them a main housing duty under the Housing Act 1996. This is a duty to secure accommodation for them. Until it is able to discharge this duty, it is required to provide temporary accommodation. This accommodation should be suitable for the applicant and those who live with them. If an applicant considers the temporary accommodation is unsuitable, they can ask the council to carry out a statutory review of its suitability, following which they can appeal on a point of law to the county court.
10. The Council’s duty to provide suitable accommodation is immediate, non-deferrable, and unqualified. (Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601)
11. Councils must complete reviews regarding the suitability of accommodation within eight weeks of the date of the review request. These periods can be extended if the applicant agrees in writing.
12. If the Council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the Council must provide suitable accommodation. If the review decides the accommodation is suitable, the applicant has the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)

Background

13. In September 2020 the Council accepted it owed Ms X the main housing duty. At that point, the interim accommodation she was living in with her adult son, became temporary accommodation.
14. In March 2022 Ms X raised issues with the Council about the condition of the property. She said it had mould, rats and bed bugs. In an internal email the Council said when Ms X raised these issues it had addressed them. It said pest control had visited twice in December 2021, and it would contact the property agent. In June 2022 the Council spoke to the agent who said it had addressed the issues in March 2022.

What happened

15. In July 2022 Ms X complained to the Council about the condition of the property. She said it still had mould, rats and bed bugs and these were affecting her health. She asked the Council to move her. The Council responded in September 2022. It said it was aware of the issues which were still unresolved with the housing provider. It said it had instructed the housing provider to investigate and was awaiting an update on its plan of action to resolve the issues. In response to my enquiries the Council said it did not get a response to its contact with the housing provider and did not follow this up.
16. In May 2023 Ms X’s MP contacted the Council as Ms X had written to them in April and May requesting help with her living conditions, which she said were impacting her health and which had not changed even after she had complained.
17. In October 2023 Ms X’s MP contacted the Council again as they had not received a response. Ms X contacted the Council again directly in November 2023. She had been diagnosed with a serious health condition and said the property conditions were making matters worse. The Council responded to Ms X in November 2023 and said it would do a suitability assessment.
18. The Council visited the property and completed a suitability assessment form. It noted Ms X said she was sleeping with bed bugs every night, the property had damp and there were rats in the property which were eating through their food. The officer noted on the form the property was unsuitable due to damp, mould, rats and bed bugs.
19. The Council contacted the property agent who said the last time the issues were reported was April 2023 and it had responded and carried out treatments. It said it would arrange pest control and would treat the damp. The Council also emailed Ms X a medical assessment form and asked her to complete it and return it with supporting evidence. It sent a chaser email in late November 2023, again requesting she complete and return the medical assessment form. Ms X was undergoing hospital treatment for her health condition during this time.
20. In February 2024 the hospital emailed the Council on Ms X’s behalf, sending it the requested documents and medical information. The Council responded to Ms X thanking her for the information sent by the hospital but said she still needed to complete and sign the form. Ms X submitted the form the next day.
21. In early March the Council told a representative of Ms X that it could take the Council up to eight weeks to complete the medical assessment. The representative contacted the Council again in April 2024 asking for an update and said the issues with the property were continuing. The Council contacted the property agent about this. They said they would inspect and arrange the necessary treatment.
22. The representative contacted the Council again in May 24 to report the treatment of the property was impacting Ms X’s health conditions and painting over the mould would cause toxic smells but would not resolve the issue. They asked for an update on the medical assessment and requested that Ms X be rehoused urgently. The Council told Ms X it would complete a suitability assessment to determine if a move to alternative accommodation was necessary. Around this time Ms X complained to the Ombudsman and we asked the Council to consider her complaints through its complaints’ procedure.
23. Ms X’s representative contacted the Council again in late June 2024 requesting an update. The Council responded and advised it was still awaiting the medical assessment and said it could not action the suitability assessment without medical recommendations. Ms X’s MP also contacted the Council as they had not received a response to their enquiries. They asked the Council to contact Ms X directly.
24. In late July 2024 the Council agreed Ms X should be moved to alternative accommodation due to the continuing infestation issues and the impact on her health.
25. In late July the Council also responded to Ms X’s complaint at stage 2 of its complaints’ procedure. The Council confirmed the infestation issues persisted. It said it had completed a medical assessment in late June 2024 which recommended that the property issues be resolved and if they could not Ms X should be moved. It said it had also completed a suitability assessment in July which recommended a move due to the ongoing issues. It upheld Ms X’s complaint.
26. In September 2024 the Council offered Ms X alternative temporary accommodation.
27. In July 2024 we issued a public report about this Council concerning homelessness which also considered issues around the suitability of accommodation. The Council agreed to produce an action plan which included actions to consider and address the suitability of temporary accommodation, how it considers requests for a statutory review of the suitability of temporary accommodation and how it notifies applicants of the outcome of reviews.

Findings

28. Ms X first complained about the condition of the property and its suitability in July 2022. Despite treatment, the issues remained. The Council, in response to Ms X’s complaint, said it would follow up her concerns with the property agent. It failed to do this. This was fault. The Council also failed to respond to Ms X’s MP when they raised the concerns on her behalf throughout 2023 and into 2024.
29. The Council was not at fault for asking the property agent to address the issues with the property. However, it did not have sufficient oversight of the property’s condition and allowed the matter to drift, which was fault. The Council then failed to contact Ms X directly to follow up her concerns and to ensure the issues were addressed. It also failed to keep the suitability of the property under review. I cannot say, even on balance, what the Council would have decided, had it assessed the suitability of Ms X’s property sooner. However, the Council’s delay in doing this, as well as the other faults identified above, have caused Ms X distress, frustration and uncertainty.
30. The Council assessed the suitability of the property in November 2023, after Ms X informed it of her additional health condition, at which time the officer decided the property was unsuitable. As soon as the Council established the property was unsuitable, it was immediately under a duty to consider alternative accommodation. It failed to do this and this was fault. On balance it is likely Ms X would have accepted any accommodation in the short term to relieve her of the issues with the property and considering her health needs at that time.
31. The Council sought medical information from Ms X so it could consider the suitability of any alternative temporary accommodation. Ms X provided this in February 2024. However, it then took the Council four months to complete Ms X’s medical assessment. This delay was fault and added to the delay in moving Ms X to a suitable property.
32. As a result of the Council’s faults Ms X remained in unsuitable temporary accommodation for around nine months longer than she should have (from the end of November 2023 to early September 2024). During this time Ms X was particularly vulnerable due to her diagnosis and the treatment she was undertaking.
33. I have seen the action plan the Council produced as a result of the report we issued in July 2024 and am satisfied it is taking action to improve its services in the areas relevant to this complaint. I have therefore not made any further service improvements but have recommended remedies for the personal injustice caused to Ms X.

Back to top

Agreed action

34. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:
35. apologise to Ms X for the injustice caused by the faults I have identified. 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;
36. pay Ms X £500 to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by its failure to review the suitability of her accommodation before November 2023; and
37. pay Ms X £2250 (£250 a month) to recognise the nine months she was in unsuitable accommodation.
38. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Final decision

39. I have completed my investigation. The Council was at fault causing injustice which it has agreed to remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman