Summary: Miss X complained that the Council did not deal properly with her homelessness application. The Council delayed providing temporary accommodation, did not complete a suitability review, did not provide suitable accommodation and did not provide a proper complaint response. Miss X suffered delay and uncertainty. The Council should apologise to Miss X, pay Miss X £1750, review its processes and provide guidance to staff.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complains the Council did not deal with her homelessness application properly because it delayed providing assistance and provided unsuitable temporary accommodation.
2. Miss X says she was forced to stay in unsuitable accommodation.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
5. 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.
6. 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

7. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. 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

Law, guidance and policies

9. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:

• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• they have been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5)

10. If someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to obtain accommodation and gives ‘reason to believe’ they ‘may be’ homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to make inquiries into what, if any, further duty it owes them. The threshold for triggering the duty to make inquiries is low. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular department of the council. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5)
11. 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)
12. 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)
13. 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)
14. 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.
15. 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)
16. Homeless applicants may request a review, within 21 days of being notified, of the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted (and the suitability of accommodation offered under section 200(3) and section 193). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.
17. Councils must complete reviews of the following decisions within eight weeks of the date of the review request regarding suitability of accommodation.

What happened?

18. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
19. Miss X contacted the Council on 28 April 2024 saying she had been asked to leave her accommodation.
20. The Council placed Miss X in interim accommodation for one night on 30th April.
21. The Council provided another interim accommodation placement for 2 nights for 1st and 2nd May.
22. The Council completed a homelessness assessment on 1st May. Miss X’s case was reassigned to another officer on 9th May.
23. The Council completed a suitability check on a property. On 13th May the Council offered this property as temporary accommodation to Miss X. Miss X did not accept this offer.
24. Miss X complained to the Council. The Council did not uphold her complaint.
25. The Council decided it accepted the main s193 housing duty to Miss X in July.
26. In October the Council offered the same accommodation to Miss X that it had offered on 13th May, under the main housing duty, not as temporary accommodation. Miss X accepted the offer.
27. In November 2024 Miss X secured private rented housing accommodation.

Analysis

Interim accommodation to 13th May

28. Miss X first contacted the Council on Sunday 28th April.
29. Records showing the provision of interim accommodation for Tuesday 30th April, Wednesday 1st May and Thursday 2nd May have been provided by the Council.
30. The Council delayed providing interim accommodation for one day on Monday 29th and did not provide interim accommodation for Miss X between 2nd May and 13th May 2024. This is fault by the Council. Miss X had to stay in unsuitable accommodation and suffered avoidable distress and uncertainty.

Accommodation from 13th May

31. I have seen evidence the Council completed a review of the suitability of the accommodation before it offered this to Miss X in May. This review of suitability did not include any notes on medical conditions or Miss X’s recent caesarean section.
32. The Council had received correspondence from Miss X’s doctor in June, saying she had received major abdominal surgery, was not to lift anything, she had already sustained a pelvic injury through lifting her pushchair and the her living circumstances posed a risk to her health.
33. Miss X says she did not take up occupation of the accommodation, that she had returned the keys and made her own arrangements and had informed the Council of this.
34. The Council has accepted this by agreeing to write off any rent payable between 13th May and early October when it made the offer of the same accommodation under its main housing duty, following an enquiry through Miss X’s MP.
35. Miss X accepted the accommodation in October and requested a suitability review. The Council says it did not complete the suitability review because Miss X had secured other private rented accommodation in the intervening period.
36. The Council accepts that Miss X requested a suitability review of the offered accommodation in early July. I have seen evidence showing that the Council only began to consider Miss X’s suitability review in December 2024, due to a backlog of work.
37. The Council did not complete this review within the necessary timescales. The Council then decided not to complete the suitability review at all. This is fault by the Council. It should have completed Miss X’s suitability review within 56 days.
38. On the balance of probabilities, the accommodation was not suitable. This is fault by the Council. Miss X was deprived of suitable accommodation between 13th May and early October, a period of nearly 5 months.

Complaint handling

39. The Council has accepted during my investigation that its complaint response was inadequate because it did not provide reasons why the Council considered itself to be at fault or not. This is fault by the Council. Miss X suffered uncertainty.

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Action

40. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of this decision:
• Apologise to Miss X for the fault found. 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 £500 for her avoidable distress and uncertainty up to 13 May 2024.
• Pay Miss X £1,250 in respect of five months she was in unsuitable accommodation, reflecting a sum of £250 per month, in accordance with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies.
• Review its processes to establish why Miss X was not provided with continuing interim accommodation up to 13th May, and provide an action plan identifying any necessary changes to ensure there is no repetition of these circumstances.
• Provide guidance to staff to ensure that homelessness applicants who the Council accepts a duty to provide interim accommodation for, are in receipt of a placement in such accommodation.
• Provide an action plan showing how all outstanding statutory reviews will be completed within maximum timescales.
• Provide guidance to staff to ensure that statutory reviews are completed within the maximum timescales.
• Provide guidance to staff to provide full and relevant complaint responses.
41. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

42. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman