Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to provide her with suitable accommodation. We found fault with the Council for the delay in offering Mrs X and her family alternative accommodation. We also found fault in the way the Council communicated with Mrs X and dealt with her complaint. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mrs X and her family. The Council has agreed to apologise and make symbolic payments. The Council has already taken action to ensure no families with children are housed in accommodation with shared facilities. The Council is also improving its complaint handling. The Council has agreed some further service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council housed her and her family in the unsuitable accommodation for the extended period of time.
2. Mrs X says the situation caused by the Council’s failings affected her and her husband’s mental health. Her children struggled to maintain good academic standards.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
6. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
7. 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(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have not investigated anything that happened after the beginning of September 2024, when Mrs X and her family moved to a different property. This is because Mrs X’s complaint of December 2023 was about the unsuitability of the accommodation she moved into in May 2023. In the autumn of 2024 Mrs X’s husband queried suitability of their new temporary accommodation and asked the Council to review its decision. If Mr and Mrs X were not satisfied with the outcome, they would need to raise it as a new complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Mrs 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

Legal and administrative framework

Homelessness

11. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (the Code) sets out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
12. If a council has “reason to believe” a person may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, then it must provide interim accommodation for them. The definition of “priority need” includes those seeking assistance with homelessness after fleeing domestic abuse. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
13. If a council is satisfied the applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance, it will owe a relief duty. This duty means a council must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for any eligible homeless person. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
14. 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 (PHP). (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
15. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved, a council will owe a main housing duty to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
16. 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)

Suitability of homelessness accommodation

17. 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)
18. Bed and breakfast (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.
19. 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 paragraphs 17.35, 17.38)

Complaint handling

20. The Council’s policy on corporate complaints says the Council:
• will acknowledge complaints within five working days;
• will respond at stage one within 20 working days or if the complaint is about housing within ten working days;
• if the complaint is escalated to stage two, the corporate resolution team will respond within 20 working days.

What happened

21. After receiving Mrs X’s homelessness application, at the end of May 2023 the Council offered her and her family three rooms accommodation with shared kitchen and bathroom (Property 1). Mrs X had three children and was pregnant. Mrs X’s husband (Mr X) was also part of the homelessness application.
22. Mrs X contacted the Council on many occasions before and after her child’s birth raising the issue of the property being unsuitable for her family.
23. In October 2023 Mrs X gave birth to her fourth child.
24. The Council accepted its main housing duty for Mr X in November 2023. The letter with the Council’s decision stated it would be sent by email. The Council acknowledged this letter was never sent to Mr X.
25. At the end of December 2023 the Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB) complained to the Council on Mrs X’s behalf. They said the family should not have been offered accommodation with shared facilities for more than six weeks.
26. After a few unsuccessful tries to get updates on Mrs X’s complaint, CAB contacted the Council again at the end of May 2024.
27. In its response the Council apologised for the delay. The Council’s officer confirmed that, as the Council had accepted a main housing duty for Mrs X’s husband and his family, it was now looking for a more suitable temporary accommodation for them. The officer emphasised the acute shortage of the properties but confirmed Mrs X would be given priority.
28. In July 2024 Mrs X brought her complaint to us. We asked the Council to respond to Mrs X’s complaint at stage two of its complaint process. The Council’s complaint officer told us they considered the Council’s response to Mrs X’s complaint from the end of May 2024 was partial and incomplete and they would ask the housing team to provide a full stage one response.
29. At the beginning of September 2024 the Council offered different accommodation to Mrs X and her family (Property 2) and Mrs X’s family moved. Two weeks later Mr X asked for a suitability review of his new accommodation.
30. Mrs X contacted us again at the end of February 2025 as the Council had failed to respond to her complaint.
31. The Council responded in the third week of March 2025. The Council considered this response to be part of the stage one complaint process. The Council said it had moved Mrs X and her family to a self-contained unit. The previous, shared accommodation was the only one available at the time Mrs X brought her homelessness application. The family was on the Council’s urgent list for suitable accommodation but there were no properties to offer.

Analysis

Accommodation suitability

32. The Council offered Property 1 to Mrs X as interim accommodation in response to her homelessness application. Because she had three children and was pregnant, the B&B type of accommodation with shared facilities should not have been offered for more than six weeks.
33. From November 2023, once the Council accepted its main housing duty for Mr X, Property 1 became temporary accommodation. Mr and Mrs X had the right to ask for a review if they believed the accommodation was not suitable.
34. We generally would not investigate and come to a finding on the suitability of temporary accommodation where it was reasonable for a person to resolve any disagreement about this using their statutory review right followed by a county court appeal right.
35. However in this case, I do not consider it would be reasonable to expect Mr and Mrs X to ask the Council to review suitability of Property 1. This is because the Council failed to send Mr and Mrs X its decision letter on ending its relief duty and accepting main housing duty, which would also tell them of their right to challenge suitability of the accommodation offered to them. Besides when the Council responded to CAB in May 2024, it accepted Property 1 was not suitable for Mrs X and her family. The Council’s position would have likely been the same in November 2023.
36. As explained in paragraph 18 Mrs X and her family should have been offered a different, self-contained accommodation after six weeks, so in mid-July 2023. This happened at the beginning of September 2024. The delay of 59 weeks is fault. I accept in most London boroughs there is a shortage of properties to offer in discharge of the councils’ housing duties. The Council has failed, however, to show that it was seeking alternative accommodation for Mrs X and her family although it had been aware they should not be staying in Property 1 for more than six weeks.
37. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mrs X and her family. Mrs X lived in Property 1 in the final months of her pregnancy and for many months with her newborn child. She found it stressful sharing bathroom and kitchen facilities with strangers. There was a lot of noise and cigarette smoke around. The children found it hard to do their homework. There was not enough space which had even greater effect on the family after the fourth child was born.

Communication

38. The Council failed to communicate with Mrs X and respond to CAB’s correspondence. Mrs X raised the issue of Property 1’s unsuitability for her family on many occasions before and after the birth of her fourth child in October 2023. Having received no response she sought help with CAB.
39. As explained in our guidance notes ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’ councils should be citizen-focused which includes informing people what they can expect and dealing with people helpfully, promptly and sensitively. The Council’s failure to respond to Mrs X’s and CAB’s communication was fault.
40. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mrs X. She felt increasingly distressed at the Council’s failure to consider her family’s difficulties caused by being housed in Property 1. She had no way of knowing whether the Council was seeking a different property for her family.

Complaint handling

41. The Council failed to respond to Mrs X’s complaint brought by CAB on her behalf in December 2023 in a timely manner. Even after telling us it would respond, the Council took further seven months to provide stage one response. The Council should have responded within ten working days so by the end of January 2024. Mrs X received the Council’s response in the third week of March 2025. The overall delay in responding to Mrs X’s complaint was 14 months.
42. The Council’s delay of 14 months in responding to Mrs X’s complaint is fault. It caused Mrs X extra distress and meant that for many months she was waiting for the resolution of the issues she complained about.

Service improvements

43. In response to my enquiries the Council said no families were currently living in shared accommodation in the Council’s area.
44. The Council acknowledged it should improve its complaint handling and confirmed it had implemented:
• liaison about complaints between portfolio holders in each division;
• two-weekly calls with team mangers to prioritise stage two cases;
• integrating learning from complaints via a lessons-learnt framework;
• extra training for all complaint handling staff;
• quarterly monitoring report to the Directorate Management Team and annual complaints report to the Housing team;
• specific forums to review complex cases.
45. The Council also stated it was recruiting staff for two vacancies in the complaint handling team.
46. In a few recent complaints against the Council we have identified failings in the way the Council handled complaints about its housing services. We made some service improvement recommendations, which the Council agreed to implement. We recognise it will take some time for the Council to address its failings in its complaint handling identified in our recent investigations. We will be monitoring the effectiveness of the Council’s actions following our recommendations through our casework.

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Action

47. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, we recommend the Council complete within four weeks of the final decision the following:
• apologise to Mrs X and Mr X for the injustice caused to them by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended;
• pay Mrs X £5,900 to recognise the negative impact on the family of the Council’s delays to offer suitable accommodation;
• pay Mrs X £500 to recognise the distress caused to her by the Council’s failing within its complaint process and to communicate with her effectively.

The Council will provide the evidence that this has happened.

48. We also recommend the Council within three months of the final decision remind its housing staff of the importance to regularly communicate with its service users and respond to any queries. The Council will provide the evidence that this has happened.

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Decision

49. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations, so this investigation is at an end.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman