Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to give her its decisions on her homeless application for nearly two years and it did not take any action to help in line with the main housing duty. She also says it refused to provide her with alternative accommodation until the day before she was due to be evicted from her property. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in sending Miss X its decisions on her homeless application and its failure to take proper action in line with the main housing duty. It was also at fault for refusing to provide Miss X alternative accommodation until the day before the eviction. The Council’s faults caused Miss X distress and uncertainty, and she lost the opportunity to bid for social housing. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to apologise to Miss X, pay her £500, make her a direct offer of the next available suitable property and implement service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council delayed helping her after she approached it for housing assistance. She says it failed to give her its decisions on her homeless application for nearly two years and it did not take any action to help in line with the main housing duty. She also says the Council refused to provide her with alternative accommodation until the day before she was due to be evicted from the property.
2. Miss X says the matter has caused distress and upset to her and her family. She says the Council’s faults means it is likely she missed opportunities to secure social housing.

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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. 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)
5. 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

6. I considered information from Miss X. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
7. Miss 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

Homelessness

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance (the Code of Guidance) for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
9. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. This is called the prevention duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
10. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. This is called the relief duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
11. 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. This is called the main hosing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
12. The Code of Guidance states at paragraphs 6.35 to 6.38 states:

• 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 the 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.

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. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
14. The Council’s housing allocations scheme states people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness will be eligible to join the housing register.

What happened

15. Miss X contacted the Council in November 2021 and made a homeless application. She said she was threatened with homelessness as her landlord had served her with a section 21 notice. A section 21 notice is a formal document served by a landlord to notify the tenant of their intention to repossess a property. The notice does not end a tenancy. The tenancy continues until the landlord obtains a possession order and enforces this with a warrant of possession. The Council reviewed Miss X’s application and decided it owed her the prevention duty.
16. Miss X also applied to join the Council’s housing register in December.
17. The Council sent a letter to Miss X in February 2022 and said it now owed her the relief duty.
18. The Council reviewed Miss X’s case in April. It ended the relief duty. It decided it now owed her the main housing duty. However, it failed to send its decision letters to Miss X.
19. The Council wrote to Miss X the following week and said she did not qualify to join the housing register because she was living in a suitable property. It said she could request a review if she remained unhappy. Miss X did not request a review.
20. Miss X contacted the Council and confirmed she was going to attend court in June to defend the section 21 notice. She sent a further update the following week after the hearing and said the judge had dismissed the possession claim. However, she said she had received another section 21 notice and so she still needed alternative accommodation. The Council did not respond.
21. Miss X had to attend court several times about her tenancy. She emailed the Council in November and provided it with copies of the court papers. The Council did not take any action.
22. Miss X’s landlord served her with a further section 21 notice. Miss X contacted the Council in October 2023 and said she had received a court order, and she was waiting for a letter from the bailiffs. The Council contacted Miss X and told her not to leave her property until she had received the letter from the bailiffs.
23. Miss X provided the Council with a copy of the possession order in November. She also applied to re-join the housing register.
24. The Council spoke to Miss X and explained it would explore temporary accommodation for her when it received the letter from the bailiffs. It said it had accepted the main housing duty for her, and it was working on finding suitable properties.
25. Miss X called the Council in December and asked for a copy of the main housing duty letter. After the Council did not provide it, she chased for a response in January 2024. She also said her landlord had applied for a warrant for possession and it was awaiting a judge’s approval. The Council responded and provided a copy of the letter. It said its housing team would search for properties for her.
26. Miss X spoke with the Council in February about her housing situation. The Council advised her to send a letter when the bailiffs attended her property. Miss X said it was illegal for the Council to refuse to provide temporary accommodation before the eviction date.
27. Miss X complained to the Council the same month about its failure to tell her it had awarded her the main housing duty for nearly two years. She also said it had failed to provide her with any help, and she had to go to court to defend two section 21 notices. The Council responded to the complaint and said it could not look at issues from 2021. It acknowledged it had delayed sending her the main housing duty letter. It apologised for the distress and uncertainty caused.
28. Miss X emailed the Council at the end of February and said the court confirmed a judge had granted the warrant for possession. She provided the Council with a copy of the warrant for possession in March. This said she had to leave the property by early July. The Council contacted Miss X and told her to remind it a few weeks before the eviction so it could arrange temporary accommodation.
29. Miss X referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure in April. She asked why it had taken two years to help her. She also asked why she had to wait for the bailiffs to attend before it would provide temporary accommodation.
30. The Council accepted Miss X onto the housing register in May.
31. The Council issued a further response to Miss X’s complaint in June. It said the caseworker dealing with her case in April 2022 left which resulted in backlogs and delays. It apologised for this. It said it is entitled to determine whether it is reasonable for a person to continue to occupy accommodation. It also said it can consider the general housing circumstances prevailing in the area.
32. Miss X emailed the Council at the end of June and asked it to urgently provide her with housing. She said her three children did not know where they would be sleeping, and it was causing them distress and anxiety.
33. Miss X emailed the Council the day before eviction and said she had heard nothing further. The Council responded and said it had approved temporary accommodation. Miss X and her family moved into the accommodation the following day.

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Analysis

34. The Council was at fault for its significant delay in sending the main housing duty letter decision to Miss X. It awarded her the duty in April 2022, but it did not send the letter until January 2024.
35. A council may perform the main housing duty by providing accommodation itself, securing accommodation from someone else or giving the applicant advice and assistance that enables them to secure accommodation. The Council failed to take any action in line with its duties. It was aware about the court action, and the further section 21 notice, but it did not secure accommodation for Miss X or provide her with any advice to help her secure accommodation. This is fault.
36. Miss X was aware the Council had refused to accept her onto the housing register in April 2022. She did not request a review. The Council’s decision would usually be caught by the restriction in paragraph four of this statement. Miss X knew about it in April 2022, but she did not refer her complaint to us until June 2024. However, I have exercised discretion to investigate it as Miss X was unaware of the Council’s full duties towards her until she received the main housing duty decision letter in January 2024. Miss X also says she did not ask for a review at the time because she had somewhere to live that was a suitable size for her and her family. She says the Council’s letter was not inaccurate and therefore she did not question it. This is not unreasonable.
37. As the Council had initially determined Miss X was threatened with homelessness, and then later that she was homeless, it should have accepted her onto the housing register in April 2022 in line with its housing allocations scheme. It was at fault for not doing so. The Council has now accepted this and backdated Miss X’s priority date to December 2021. I welcome this.
38. The Code of Guidance states 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. The Council received a copy of the possession order and knew the court had applied for a warrant to enforce an order for possession. Therefore, it should have taken steps to find Miss X and her family temporary accommodation much sooner. It failed to properly consider its duties and Miss X’s circumstances, and it was at fault for telling Miss X to wait until the eviction date.
39. The Council’s faults have caused Miss X a significant injustice. She had to deal with her housing situation by herself, without any assistance from the Council. This caused her uncertainty and worry. She also had the added stress of not knowing whether the Council was going to find her temporary accommodation until the very last minute. This would have been a very difficult situation for Miss X, especially as she has young children.
40. The Council’s failure to accept Miss X onto the housing register in April 2022 also means she lost the opportunity to secure social housing sooner. This is a significant injustice. The Council, and Miss X, have provided me with records of applicants with similar requirements to Miss X who have secured social housing since 2022. Applicants who have a later priority date than December 2021 have been successful in securing a property. This means, but for the Council’s fault, it is more likely than not Miss X would have successfully bid for a permanent property.

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Agreed action

41. By 14 March 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss X.
• Pay Miss X £500 to remedy her worry, distress, uncertainty and lost opportunity.
• Make Miss X a direct offer of the next available three-bedroom property that meets her needs in recognition of the missed opportunity to be allocated permanent housing.
• Remind relevant officers about the contents of paragraphs 6.35 to 6.38 of the Code of Guidance.
• Remind relevant officers to send homeless applicants decisions on their applications without undue delay.
• Remind relevant officers of the Council’s duties when it awards a homeless applicant the main housing duty.

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

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Final decision

43. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman