Summary: Ms X complained the Council provided unsuitable accommodation following a homeless application. We have found the Council failed to advise Ms X of her right to seek a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation which will have caused her uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council provided accommodation following a homeless application that was unsuitable as it did not have cooking facilities.
2. Ms X says because of the Council’s fault she lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary and incurred additional costs.

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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. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
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(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have investigated the suitability of accommodation provided by the Council for the period 22 January 2023 to 24 November 2024 only.
9. I have not investigated the suitability of Ms X’s different accommodation from 25 November 2024. This is because Ms X had a statutory right of review and subsequent appeal to court on a point of law (please see paragraph 5 above and paragraphs 19 and 20 below). The Council advised Ms X of her right to request a review of the suitability of this different accommodation by letter dated 19 November 2024. I consider it would be or have been reasonable for Ms X to use this right.
10. I have also not investigated more recent events about Ms X’s accommodation as she would need to make a complaint to the Council and provide it with an opportunity to address the matter.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Ms X’s representative and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Ms X and her representative 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

Background and legislation

13. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
14. 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)
15. If, having made inquiries, the council is not satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible, and in priority need, it will have no further accommodation duty.
16. 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)
17. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty, but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
18. 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)
19. 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.
20. 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)

What happened

21. The following is a summary of key events. It does not include everything that happened.
22. The Council provided Ms X accommodation from 22 January 2024. The Council has confirmed this was interim accommodation provided under section188.
23. The Council wrote to Ms X on 19 March 2024 to accept she was eligible, homeless but did not have a priority need and her temporary accommodation would end on 19 April 2024. The Council also wrote to Ms X on 3 April 2024 to end its relief duty. Ms X sought a review of the Council’s decision. The Council subsequently agreed to accommodate Ms X pending the outcome of its review.
24. Ms X contacted the Council on 8 May 2024 to ask for the reimbursement of food costs she had incurred as there were no kitchen facilities in her room or to be provided with meals from the hotel. The Council responded to say Ms X had been added to the waiting list for support from its Housing and Employment team and provided details of other support services that may be able to help in the meantime.
25. Ms X complained about the suitability of the above accommodation on 15 May 2024. Ms X enclosed a copy of ‘Setting the Standard – Temporary Accommodation Inspection Service’ dated September 2022 and highlighted the accommodation provided to her did not meet the agreed standards and she had not received the food and payments this set out.
26. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint on 28 May. The Council explained there was a severe shortage of available temporary accommodation and it was having to use hotels to house residents. The Council confirmed the arrangement included the provision of breakfast but the Council could not cover the cost of any other additional food. The Council provided details of a local charity that provided food and basic essentials and also ran a weekly community market and food hub to those facing financial hardship.
27. Ms X asked for her complaint to be escalated to Stage 2 of the Council’s complaint procedure on 29 May and reiterated it was not meeting the requirements set out in the above standards document. In particular at page 20 the document set out the requirements for kitchen facilities to be available.
28. The Council responded on 26 June. The Council explained the standards document did not apply to the hotel Ms X was staying in as it was not a bed and breakfast establishment dedicated to providing temporary accommodation but was a commercial hotel. The Council noted the following at page 3 of the standards document which set out the standards only applied to:

“accommodation secured by Local Housing Authorities (LHAs) on a nightly rate basis. These include “Bed and Breakfast establishments,” Bedsit-type accommodation, Hostels and self-contained studio units. The Standards do not apply to permanent or long-stay accommodation or to emergency placements in commercial hotels.”

29. The Council further explained it had not been able to identify suitable and accessible temporary accommodation that met Ms X’s needs and so had sourced a longer-term emergency arrangement in a commercial hotel to ensure her accessibility needs were met. The Council accepted Ms X did not have access to kitchen facilities but noted she had access to a microwave. The Council has confirmed the accommodation provided to Ms X included a microwave and fridge which were not shared and included breakfast daily.
30. The Council accepted the main housing duty to Ms X on 11 July 2024. The Council wrote to advise Ms X of this on 12 July. The letter provided by the Council refers only to placing Ms X on its Housing Register following the completion of its assessment of her homeless application. It does not set out Ms X’s appeal rights including that she could now seek a review of the suitability of the accommodation from that date.
31. The Council completed a review of the hotel accommodation in August and made a referral for a medical assessment of the recommendations. The assessment confirmed the recommendation of studio accommodation and noted the addition of Health and Independence points to the application was not appropriate. The Council wrote to Ms X on 13 August with the outcome of this assessment and provided information about the review process.
32. The Council made Ms X an offer of accommodation on 13 September 2024 which was not accepted.
33. Ms X received a £250 household support fund payment in October 2024 and was accessing the Council’s weekly fresh food provision payments.
34. The Council wrote to Ms X on 19 November 2024 to offer different temporary accommodation under section 193. This was a ground floor flat. The Council’s letter set out Ms X’s right to request a review of the decision and of the suitability of the accommodation offered. Ms X moved to this accommodation on 25 November 2024.
35. In responding to the Ombudsman, the Council acknowledged that hotel accommodation would not be suitable over the longer term but considered an accessible room in a hotel setting which had both a fridge and microwave in each room was suitable for an extended period of a number of months whilst it was trying to source self-contained accessible accommodation which the Council noted was scarce.
36. The Council has confirmed it holds weekly meetings with relevant stakeholders to work collaboratively to find alternative temporary accommodation solutions for households in hotel settings.

My consideration

37. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
38. The Council has provided evidence it considered the suitability of the accommodation provided for Ms X from January 2024 to 25 November 2024. The main issue raised by Ms X was about the lack of kitchen facilities and the cost of food. I am satisfied the relevant standards document did not apply to the accommodation. The accommodation provided to Ms X included a microwave and fridge which were not shared and also included breakfast daily. The Council also provided some financial assistance to help with food costs during this period. In these circumstances, there are no grounds on which I can find fault with the Council’s decision in this respect.
39. However, the Council’s letter of 12 July 2024 does not say Ms X now had the right to seek a suitability review about the accommodation she had been occupying from January 2024. Given the important change in the legal duty the accommodation was being provided under I consider the Council’s letter should have set this out. Although a finely balanced decision, I consider this constitutes fault.
40. However, even on a balance of probabilities, we cannot know if Ms X would have sought such a review or what the outcome would have been. But I do consider this represents a missed opportunity for Ms X and will have caused her a degree of uncertainty about whether such a review request may have been successful and resulted in an earlier move. This requires a remedy.

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Action

41. The Council will take the following action within one month of my final decision to provide a suitable remedy for Ms X:
1. write to Ms X to apologise for not advising her of the right to seek a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation;
2. make a symbolic payment of £150 to Ms X to acknowledge her uncertainty about whether such a review may have resulted in an earlier move.
42. The Council should also review its letter templates to ensure applicants are properly advised of their right to seek a review of the suitability of their accommodation when the duty it is being provided under changes within three months of my final decision.
43. 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.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman