Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to provide appropriate support and assistance to deal with her homelessness. The Council was at fault when it failed to properly consider information Miss X provided about her relationship with her family, for not notifying Miss X it had decided she was not in priority need and for not ensuring she received its decision letters. There was no fault in the way it reached its decision Miss X’s altercation with a relative was not domestic abuse. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss X to acknowledge her frustration and loss of appeal rights. It has also agreed to issue a reminder to officers to prevent a repeat of the faults.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to provide her with appropriate assistance to deal with her homelessness which resulted from domestic abuse. She says this caused her distress and frustration and left her without appropriate accommodation.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. Most homelessness decisions carry a right of review, followed by a right of appeal to the county court on a point of law.
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 have considered the information provided by Miss X and have discussed the complaint with her on the telephone. I have considered information provided by the Council in response to our initial enquiries and the relevant law and guidance.
8. 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.

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What I found

The relevant law and guidance

Duty to make enquiries

9. 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

10. 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 them to secure suitable accommodation. The relief duty usually lasts for 56 days.

Interim accommodation

11. 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. Examples of those in priority need includes those who are pregnant, have a dependent child or (from July 2021) are fleeing domestic abuse.

Main housing duty

12. 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

13. 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.
14. The code of guidance says where a decision is against the applicant’s interests the notification must explain clearly and fully the reasons for the decision.

What happened

15. Miss X is a young adult who lived in a two bedroom property with her mother. Miss X says they had a difficult relationship and she had social work support in the past. In October 2023 Miss X called the Council to say that her mother had told her to leave home.
16. The Council carried out an assessment and asked Miss X to provide documents. It allocated Miss X a case worker who completed a PHP and referred Miss X to the homelessness prevention service (HPS). The PHP stated ‘parental eviction from family home’. It said Miss X was asked to leave in September 2023 and had sofa surfed between friends and family. The Council spoke to Miss X’s mother who told the Council Miss X could only stay there until the end of the month. The PHP stated Miss X had her own room before the relationship broke down.
17. The Council wrote to Miss X, at her mother’s address, to say it owed her the relief duty as she was homeless and eligible for assistance. It provided details of the steps the Council would take to support her and the actions she needed to take. It provided details of street link for support if she was without accommodation.
18. Miss X says she had nowhere to live and so went to stay with a relative. In early December 2023 Miss X contacted the Council to report her relative had kicked her out. The Council advised Miss X to contact its out of hours service. Miss X’s case worker provided details of some hostels and charities.
19. In mid December Miss X’s HPS worker went over the PHP with her. The HPS worker referred her for supported accommodation. Miss X told the worker she was homeless due to domestic abuse and asked if she would be a priority.
20. In early January, the HPS worker told the Council their client had asked if they were a priority case due to domestic abuse in the family home. The worker provided details of Miss X’s previous social worker and of another worker that had supported Miss X. Miss X told the worker she and her mother had a mediator over the years but nothing had worked.
21. In late January Miss X went into the Council and spoke with a Council officer. The notes record Miss X had an altercation with a relative she had been staying with for three months. She had called the police. The officer spoke with a colleague who considered Miss X did not seem to be in priority need. They emailed the HPS worker and requested an update. The Council told Miss X to provide it with a copy of any police reports. Miss X provided a witness statement.
22. The following day Miss X complained to the Council that it had said she was not a priority when she was fleeing domestic abuse from family members and so should have had emergency accommodation. Miss X said she had reported the incident to the police but was told she was not a priority as she was only abused once even though she had told the Council it had been multiple occasions. Miss X said she never received the letter to say she was not a priority and so could not approach other councils.
23. The next day the notes record Miss X contacted the Council and said she no longer required assistance and wanted her case closed. The Council also noted she had approached another council. Around this time Miss X moved into supported accommodation.
24. The Council wrote to Miss X at her mother’s address in early February ending its duty as it said Miss X had withdrawn her homelessness application. It said it understood Miss X had applied to another borough. Miss X did not receive this letter.
25. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in mid March. It said it did not consider the incident with her relative was domestic abuse. It said Miss X received support from HPS until she withdrew her application. It recommended she engage with them to secure accommodation if she still wanted support as the Council had determined she was not in priority need.
26. Miss X remained unhappy. She said when she stayed with her relative she was the victim of domestic abuse. She said she asked for the case to be closed as the Council was refusing to issue a decision letter. She later found out the decision letter was written on 2 February but as she had not received it for 21 days she could not appeal. She described the incident with her relative and said they had hit her in the past so she should have been treated as a priority and got interim accommodation. She said she had not been helped by any other council and had not received the Council’s decision letter on her application.
27. In early May 2024 the Council responded at the final stage of its complaints procedure. It said when Miss X first approached she made no mention of domestic abuse. She had later told the Council about the altercation with her relative who had asked for keys to be returned. It said Miss X had not mentioned domestic abuse during her assessment and it did not accept the incident with her relative was domestic abuse. It said Miss X was not assessed for the main housing duty as she had told the Council she wanted to withdraw her application. It said it sent the letter closing her case to her mother’s address on 2 February 2024 and confirmed it had closed her case.

Findings

28. When Miss X approached the Council for help with her homelessness, it appropriately carried out an assessment and completed a PHP. The Council did not offer Miss X interim accommodation. It had therefore made the decision she was not in priority need. There is no evidence the Council clearly explained this decision to Miss X. This is fault. The Council made no mention of Miss X not being in priority need in the letter telling Miss X it owed her the relief duty. The code of guidance expects councils to ensure applicants are clearly notified of decisions. Had the Council made this clear to Miss X it is likely she would have appealed this decision.
29. In addition, the Council issued this letter and the later letter ending the relief duty to Miss X’s mother’s address; an address she had been made homeless from. This was fault. Miss X did not receive these letters and so was not aware of the Council’s decisions.
30. In discussions with her HPS worker in early January 2024, Miss X referred to domestic abuse and provided details of her previous social worker and another officer. I have seen no evidence the Council explored this further. This is fault. However, I have seen no evidence Miss X raised this when she first approached the Council or in her later complaint, and even on the balance of probability, I cannot say whether, had it done so, this would have made any difference to the Council’s decision making.
31. Later that same month Miss X had an altercation with a relative when she went to collect some belongings. The Council considered the information she provided and decided this incident was not domestic abuse. The Council considered the evidence and Miss X’s views in reaching its decision. There was no fault in the way it reached its decision.
32. Shortly after Miss X told the Council she wanted to withdraw her application. The Council then wrote to Miss X ending the relief duty. The Council was not at fault for ending its duty given Miss X had asked to withdraw her application. However, the Council should have ended the relief duty by the end of December i.e., within 56 days of the notice accepting it owed her the relief duty. The Council can extend this period if it is continuing to provide support but given it had already decided Miss X was not in priority need, the Council should have made a decision on whether it owed Miss X the main housing duty by the end of December 2023 and by early January 2024 at the latest. This delay was fault and meant Miss X missed out on her right of review and right of appeal. It also caused her frustration.

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Agreed action

33. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Miss X and pay her £250 to acknowledge the frustration and loss of appeal rights caused by its delay in ending the relief duty and in its failure to notify her properly of its decisions.
2. Reissue its decision that Miss X was not in priority need, setting out Miss X’s right to request a review of this decision.
3. Remind officers of the need to communicate in writing its decision that an applicant is not in priority need, either separately or as part of the relief duty letter, if it has reached a decision at that time.
4. Remind officers to confirm contact details and correspondence addresses with applicants to ensure decision letters are received in a timely manner.
34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

35. 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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman