Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to deal with her complaint about the suitability of temporary accommodation including failing to advise her of her right to submit a suitability review request. She also complained the Council failed to protect her belongings and says this all caused distress. There was fault in the Council’s failure to advise Miss X of her review rights. It should now offer a suitability review and make a payment for the distress.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to properly deal with a complaint about the suitability of temporary accommodation including failing to advise her of her right to submit a suitability review request. She also complained the Council failed to protect her belongings left at a previous property when she had to leave due to harassment.
2. Miss X says her and her son’s health and she is located too far from family to have their support which is distressing.

Back to top

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. 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

How I considered this complaint

5. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• considered the relevant law, policy and guidance;
• interviewed Council officers involved in this case; and
• sent my draft decision to both the Council and the complainant and taken account of their comments in reaching my final decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (the Code) set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
7. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants.
8. 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)
9. 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 housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
10. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household.  This duty applies to interim and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
11. The duty to provide suitable accommodation is immediate, non-deferable, and unqualified. Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601
12. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it. This is important because there is a statutory right to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. This then carries a right of appeal to county court on a point of law. There is no statutory right to review the suitability of interim accommodation.
13. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

Key facts

14. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
15. Miss X currently lives in temporary accommodation outside the borough. She moved there in August 2023. Miss X had to leave her previous temporary accommodation due to harassment by a neighbour. She says she had to call the police in the night and then stayed at her mother’s house for the weekend. The following week the Council moved her into temporary accommodation in a hostel.
16. Miss X says that she was unable to return and collect her belongings. She lived in the hostel from March to August 2023. The room at the hostel was not large enough to store all her belongings.
17. The Agent emailed Miss X on 22 May 2023 saying it urgently required vacant possession of the property and noting there were quite a lot of belongings inside. Miss X telephoned the Agent as requested following which the Agent sent another email. It stated it understood Miss X was unable to meet at the property and so it would move all her belongings to storage and asked her to make arrangements to collect them within a week. Miss X says that she was never able to collect her belongings and that they were destroyed.
18. In August 2023, the Council offered Miss X temporary accommodation outside the borough. Miss X accepted the property as she thought she had no choice. The offer letter sent by the Council failed to include details of Miss X’s right to request a review regarding the suitability of the property. As a result, Miss X did not know she could request a review and did not submit such a request.
19. Miss X says that she first raised concerns about disrepair with the building managers in January 2024. Due to a lack of response, she then made a formal complaint to the Council on 25 March 2024 raising issues of damp, mould and a mouse infestation. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint on 12 April saying it would raise the issues with the property managers as well as visiting to complete an inspection.
20. An inspection took place on 18 July following which it issued a notice to the property managers stating works should be completed as soon as possible in relation to the damp, mould and a broken boiler. A specialist damp and mould report was also produced and it reported the issues were due to a lack of ventilation and Miss X’s lifestyle. The boiler was repaired on 22 August.
21. The Council has confirmed that a new boiler was installed in the property in February 2025. It also says the other issues have been resolved and Miss X has not continued to raise concerns.

Analysis

22. Miss X is owed the homelessness duty and is currently living in temporary accommodation outside the Borough. Miss X says the property is not suitable for a number of reasons including disrepair issues and distance from her support network.
23. When this property was offered to Miss X the Council did not send the correct offer letter. It should have included details of her right to request a review regarding the suitability of the accommodation. The failure to do this is fault. As a result Miss X was not able to raise concerns and so her rights of review were frustrated. A remedy for the injustice caused is proposed below.
24. Regarding the repairs, I am satisfied the Council took action to inspect the property once it was aware of the disrepair after Miss X raised it directly with the Council. The Council says there was a delay in completing the inspection as it was unable to make contact with Miss X. Once the inspection was completed, the Council issued a notice to the building owners who took action to repair the boiler and provide a mould and damp report. The report showed there was no mould in the property but was due to condensation. I am satisfied the Council took suitable action and find no fault in respect of repair issues.
25. Miss X also complained about the storage of her belongings after she had an emergency move from a previous property. The Council had a duty to protect Miss X’s belongings and I am satisfied it did so in this case. The agents who managed Miss X’s previous property moved her belongings into storage and contacted her about this.
26. In a complaint response dated 19 September 2023, the Council confirmed that Miss X’s belongings were still being stored by the agents of her previous property and that she could collect them as soon as possible. By this time, Miss X had moved out of the hostel and into her current property. I am therefore satisfied she had room for these belongings. I am therefore not persuaded there was any fault by the Council in respect of the storage of her belongings.
27. In another complaint response dated June 2024, the Council provided details of the actions Miss X should take in respect of securing a suitable private rented property. In that letter the Council also said its procurement team would also continue to search for suitable accommodation and a direct offer would be made once it identified suitable accommodation.
28. Miss X believed this was an offer made in response to her complaint and says that no offer of alternative accommodation has been made. In response to my enquiries the Council said the only direct offer made to Miss X was the property she currently resides in. It says she has been referred to viewings by the Council. I sought further clarification on this point and interviewed a housing manager. She told me that this was a poorly worded letter and that this was not intended to be an offer outside the Council’s normal processes.
29. I consider this phrase could be misleading especially when used in a complaint response. It gives the impression the Council is going to offer Miss X alternative accommodation to that which she is currently living in and saying is not suitable for her needs. This raised Miss X’s expectations that the Council would offer her a property back in the Borough. I consider this is fault.

Back to top

Action

30. To remedy the injustice caused as a result of the fault identified in this case, the Council will, within one month of my final decision, take the following action:
• Write to Miss X explaining how to request a suitability review in respect of her current property. If the subsequent review finds the property is not suitable, the Council should provide a suitable financial remedy, in line with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies, for the time since August 2023 she has lived in the property;
• Make Miss X a symbolic payment of £300 to recognise her frustrated review rights and raised expectations; and
• Remind officers of the importance of ensuring the correct decision letters are sent to ensure all rights of review and appeal are notified.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Decision

32. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman