Summary: Miss X complained the Council placed her and her child in unsuitable temporary accommodation. She stated it took too long to complete a review of the suitability of her accommodation and placed her housing register application in the wrong priority band. We found fault by the Council on both matters. This meant Miss X has lived in unsuitable accommodation for over two years. To remedy her injustice the Council agreed to apologise, pay her £3750 and make a monthly payment for every month she remains in unsuitable accommodation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation. She stated it took the Council too long to reply to her concerns about the property being unsuitable. Miss X also complained the Council placed her housing register application in the wrong priority band and did not consider medical information she provided.
2. Miss X stated the Council’s actions left her and her young child in unsuitable accommodation and prevented her from being able to bid for suitable permanent accommodation. This has caused her frustration and negatively impacted her physical and mental health.

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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. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), 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 evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. I set out my initial thoughts on the complaint in a draft decision statement and I invited Miss X and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

8. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
9. A council must secure accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This is called interim accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
10. 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)
11. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household.  This duty applies to interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
12. In reaching a decision on suitability the Council has to consider the space and arrangement of the accommodation and the specific needs of the applicant and any household members due to a medical condition or disability.
13. The 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)
14. Applicants can request a review of the suitability of their accommodation. This is an ongoing right. Councils must complete reviews with eight weeks of the date of the request and provide a decision in writing with details of the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law.

Housing Allocations

15. 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))

The Council’s housing allocations policy 2013

16. This policy was in force until 2 April 2024. It had four bands of priority: A to D, with A being the highest and D the lowest. Band B includes applicants who are severely overcrowded (lacking two bedrooms). Band C is split into two levels with C1 for statutory homeless households to whom the Council owes a full housing duty.

The Council’s housing allocations policy 2024

17. This policy was in force from 2 April 2024. It has four bands of priority: A to D, with A being the highest and D the lowest. Band B includes applicants who are severely overcrowded (lacking two bedrooms) and homeless households owed a full housing duty. Band C includes homeless households who are not in priority need.

What happened

18. The following summary contains the key events in the complaint. It does not show everything that happened.
19. Miss X has a young child. She has mental health needs and physical health issues which affect her mobility.
20. In November 2022 Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register. It accepted her application and awarded her priority band C.
21. In February 2023 Miss X became homeless and approached the Council for help.
22. The Council accepted the relief duty to Miss X and provided her with interim accommodation in a hotel. Miss X provided the Council with information about her mental and physical health, including her need for ground floor accommodation.
23. Meanwhile the Council moved Miss X’s housing register application into priority band D.
24. In March the Council moved Miss X to new interim accommodation: a third floor, one bedroom flat in a converted building, in another borough away from her support network. The accommodation is accessed by 50 stairs.
25. In April Miss X asked the Council to review the suitability of her interim accommodation. She said the accommodation was too small, difficult to access and away from her support network.
26. In May the Council accepted the main housing duty to Miss X. Her interim accommodation now became temporary accommodation.
27. Also in May Miss X asked the Council for a review of the suitability of her accommodation. Miss X was told there was a backlog of suitability review cases. She was told her earlier review request was not showing on its system.
28. In July Miss X asked the relevant Council’s Environmental Health department to inspect her home. The report identified some hazards for her landlord to address. It also stated the property was not suitable for a single person with a young child.
29. Meanwhile Miss X continued to chase up a reply to her suitability review request, but she did not receive a reply.
30. In December Miss X complained to the Council. She complained it had not acted on her two previous suitability review requests. She explained the property was hard to access (as she must carry her child and buggy to and from the third floor) and it was negatively impacting her physical health. Miss X also said the property was too small, was too cold because of draughts, had disrepair issues and was not safe as men loitered near the communal entrance and knocked on the front door of her home.
31. Meanwhile Miss X discovered the Council did not consider medical information she provided to it in February 2023, nor had it given her a medical form to complete to support her housing register application. It said it would review her housing register application.
32. In January 2024 the Council awarded Miss X’s housing register application priority band B.
33. In March 2024 Miss X chased up a reply to her complaint.
34. In late April the Council replied to Miss X’s complaint. It said her suitability review request has been logged and will be dealt with in due course. It also said it would arrange for an inspection of her accommodation. The reply also referred to mould and damp issues however Miss X did not complain about such matters.
35. In June Miss X complained to the Ombudsman. We advised her to complete the Council’s complaints procedure.
36. In July 2024 Miss X escalated her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints process. She complained she was still waiting for an inspection of her home and for a suitability review.
37. In September the Council replied to Miss X’s stage two complaint. It said it was not clear why it had taken so long to reply to her request for a suitability review but there was a high volume of requests. It said it could not provide Miss X with any further update on when a review would be completed.
38. In November the Council inspected Miss X’s home. The inspection found the property was suitable for Miss X and her child. It said the property was not overcrowded under housing law. It also made some recommendations for the Miss X’s landlord including fitting draught tape on the hallway window and a spy hole on the front door.
39. Following the inspection the Council completed a suitability review of Miss X’s accommodation. It said the property was not statutorily overcrowded. It also said it was not essential for the welfare of Miss X and her child to live near her family and friends. For these reasons it said the accommodation was suitable for Miss X.
40. Unhappy Miss X asked for a review of the Council’s decision. She said it had not properly considered all her reasons for saying her accommodation was unsuitable She also said it had not considered her mental health history when stating it was not essential for the welfare of her and her child to live close to family and friends.
41. In December the Council reviewed its suitability decision. It upheld its previous decision.
42. In January 2025 the Council further considered Miss X’s case and concluded her temporary accommodation was unsuitable for her. It said it would be in touch with her about finding her alternative temporary accommodation.
43. Miss X remained unhappy with the Council’s consideration of her complaint, and she complained to the Ombudsman. We made enquiries of the Council. It said:
• it altered its decision on the suitability of Miss X’s temporary accommodation because of a medical report stating she needed ground floor housing which it had overlooked.
• the delays in handling Miss X’s suitability review were due to a backlog of cases and staffing issues.
• it has checked its housing records and stated that Miss X would not have successfully bid for suitable permanent accommodation between February 2023 and January 2024 if her housing register application had been awarded the correct priority banding.

Finding

Suitability review

44. Miss X first asked for a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation in May 2023. The Council did not complete a suitability review until November 2024. I would have expected the Council to complete the review within eight weeks, by the end of June 2023. It took another 17 months to do so. This is fault.
45. During this period Miss X sought updates and acknowledgement of her request, but this was not forthcoming. This caused Miss X frustration, uncertainty and put her to avoidable time and trouble.
46. In January 2025 the Council decided her temporary accommodation was not suitable. It says this was because it overlooked medical information explaining Miss X needed ground floor accommodation. Miss X provided information about her physical health needs in February 2023. The Council should have taken this information into account when it placed Miss X into her current accommodation. Its failure to do so is fault and means the accommodation was unsuitable for Miss X from the date she moved in.
47. Additionally the Council was unable to provide evidence it assessed the suitability of the accommodation for Miss X before she moved in. Miss X first occupied the accommodation as interim accommodation, and it became temporary accommodation after the Council accepted the main housing duty to her. It should have reassessed the suitability of the property for temporary accommodation. There is no evidence it did so.
48. The Council’s initial suitability review focused on concerns about the size of Miss X’s temporary accommodation. It did not consider all the reasons why Miss X said the property was unsuitable. It should have done so. The review also stated Miss X did not need to live in accommodation located in the Council’s area but failed to discuss Miss X’s mental health needs. I would have expected the review to have addressed this matter when deciding if accommodation outside the borough was suitable for her.
49. To date the Council has failed to find Miss X alternative temporary accommodation. The Council’s duty to find alternative accommodation once it decided Miss X’s accommodation was unsuitable is immediate. While I understand the need for accommodation outstrips the supply of accommodation available to the Council, it remains that Miss X, and her child are living in unsuitable accommodation. I consider the Council’s action amount to service failure.

Housing register application

50. Miss X’s housing register application was placed in the wrong priority band between February 2023 and January 2024. This is fault.
51. The Council has advised that Miss X would not have successfully bid for permanent accommodation even if her application had been awarded the correct priority from February 2023 onwards. Therefore I do not consider Miss X has missed out on an offer of suitable permanent accommodation.

Complaint handling

52. The Council took four months to reply to Miss X ‘s stage one complaint. Its stage one reply wrongly referred to Miss X complaining about mould and damp. It took two months to reply to her stage two complaint. This is fault and caused Miss X extra frustration and avoidable time and trouble in chasing up replies.

Agreed Action

53. In recognition of the injustice caused to Miss X the Council will, within in one month of final decision, take the following action:
• Find Miss X suitable alternative accommodation;
• Apologise to Miss X for the identified fault. 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 in my findings.
• Pay her £3750 for living in unsuitable accommodation. This amounts to £150 per month for 25 months, in line with the Ombudsman's guidance on remedies and taking into account the circumstances of this case; and
• Pay her £150 for every month she continues to live in unsuitable accommodation.
54. I note we have made service improvement recommendations on previous complaints of a similar nature and so I do not consider it is necessary to make further recommendations currently.
55. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final Decision

56. I find fault causing injustice. The Council agreed to my recommended actions to remedy the injustice to Miss X.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman