Summary: Miss X complained that her family were in Bed and Breakfast accommodation for 10 weeks causing them to spend extra money on food and travelling. Miss X also complains that the accommodation made her children anxious. Based on current evidence I find fault and the Council should remedy the injustice by apologising and making a payment to Miss X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains her family were placed in Bed and Breakfast (B&B) accommodation for over 6 weeks when they were homeless. Miss X says she incurred extra costs while in the accommodation and it made her family anxious.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Miss X, who was pregnant with two young children, was placed in temporary accommodation on 18 May 2024 by the Council. This was an ensuite bedroom with access to a shared communal kitchen. Miss X moved to a different hotel, again an ensuite bedroom, sharing a communal kitchen, on 24 May.
7. The Council said both hotels had communal kitchen facilities for people to prepare and cook their own meals and as such are regarded as B&B accommodation by the Suitability of Accommodation Order. Miss X and her family were in B&B accommodation for 10 weeks and 3 days.
8. In response to my enquires the Council said ‘it is unfortunate the Council has a low number of Social Housing and privately rented properties available for families and a high number living in temporary accommodation. It has unavoidable for some families to be living in temporary accommodation for over the maximum six weeks. In recognition of this the Council has recently opened its own temporary accommodation hostel that will primarily be offered to families as temporary accommodation, providing over 30 accommodation rooms. This will substantially reduce the likelihood of a family being placed for longer than six weeks in B&B style accommodation’.
9. 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 accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
10. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206) Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability. (Housing Act 1996, section 202) 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)
11. Wherever possible, Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast accommodation. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.33)
12. B&B accommodation can only be used for households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks. B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned by the council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.35)
13. While I recognise the difficulty the Council had in finding accommodation and that it has taken steps to improve its supply of temporary accommodation, the law and guidance is clear that B&B accommodation should only be used for a maximum of 6 weeks for families.
14. The Ombudsman’s view, based on caselaw, is that ‘service failure’ is an objective, factual question about what happened. A finding of service failure does not imply blame, intent or bad faith by the council involved. There may be circumstances where we conclude service failure has occurred and caused an injustice to the complainant despite the best efforts of the council. This still amounts to fault. We may recommend a remedy for the injustice caused or the council makes service improvements. (R (on the application of ER) v CLA (LGO) [2014] EWCA civ 1407) I find that the Council was at fault, as Miss X and her family were in B&B accommodation for 4 weeks longer than they should have been. I now have to consider the injustice caused to Miss X.
15. Miss X has explained the B&B accommodation was over 14 miles to her children’s school and that her family were anxious every night due to alarms going off. She says that staying there had an impact on her son’s well-being. Miss X said her children had to sit on the floor to eat in the kitchen as there were no tables or chairs. So, she had to eat out a lot. Miss X has said she had to throw her furniture away because of damp and had to pay for storage for the rest of her belongings. This was £300 for 6 weeks and then £50 per week.
16. Our guidance on remedies says the most serious injustice is often experienced by households who stay in unsuitable B&B accommodation, often far in excess of the six-week legal limit for families with children or a pregnant household member.
17. The law says this type of accommodation is never suitable families with children or a pregnant household member. The Suitability of Accommodation Order 2003 says it can only be used for a maximum of six weeks for families when no other accommodation is available. We will assess financial redress in these cases by reference to the number of weeks a family has stayed in B&B beyond the point where they should have been moved. We are likely to recommend a weekly payment in the range of £100 to £200. This payment is additional to reimbursement of any specific quantifiable costs that the homeless household incurred. These could include charges to store personal belongings when a council has breached the six-week maximum limit for families in B&B and an earlier move to alternative temporary accommodation means they could have taken their belongings out of storage sooner.
18. Miss X was pregnant, with two young children and incurred travelling and food costs. So, the remedy at the top end of our guidance is appropriate, this would be £200 a week for 4 weeks which totals £800. In addition, the Council should pay Miss X the £200 for the extra storage costs she incurred.
19. I have not made a service improvement remedy as the Council has already explained that it recognised there is a problem with the supply of temporary accommodation and has opened a new hostel.

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Action

20. Within one month of the date of the decision on this complaint the Council should:
• Apologise to Miss X. 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 Miss X £1000.
21. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

22. I find fault causing injustice. This complaint is upheld.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman