Summary: The Council was at fault for delays and poor communication regarding repair issues Ms X raised regarding her temporary accommodation. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Ms X to acknowledge the additional frustration and distress caused, beyond that already remedied through its complaint responses. It has also agreed to review its procedures for responding to repeated issues of disrepair in temporary accommodation and for communicating effectively with tenants about the issues.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to carry out, and mismanaged, repairs to her temporary accommodation. This has caused her frustration and distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. I gave Ms X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

6. Where a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, in priority need and not intentionally homeless, it may owe them a main housing duty under the Housing Act 1996. This is a duty to secure accommodation for them. Until it is able to discharge this duty, it is required to provide temporary accommodation. This accommodation should be suitable for the applicant and those who live with them. If an applicant considers the temporary accommodation is unsuitable, they can ask the council to carry out a statutory review of its suitability, following which they can appeal on a point of law to the county court.

What happened

7. Since the summer of 2023 Ms X has lived in temporary accommodation provided to her by the Council under its homelessness duties. Ms X has her own bedroom and kitchen but shares a bathroom.
8. Since moving in Ms X has raised complaints about:

Delays in dealing with a leak in the kitchen and a lack of ventilation in the bathroom

9. Ms X said there was no ventilation in the bathroom and the temperature in there had caused her to faint several times. The Council in its complaint response to Ms X accepted it did not attend appointments and did not communicate with Ms X regarding repair appointments. It offered Ms X £80 for her time and trouble. Ms X remained unhappy as repairs remained outstanding and she considered the property did not meet her needs. At the second stage of the complaints procedure, in April 2024, the Council confirmed it had now carried out the repairs to the leak in the kitchen and to the extractor fan. It advised Ms X to contact the temporary accommodation team if she considered the property did not meet her needs. It offered Ms X an additional £120 (so £200 in total) to acknowledge the delays, distress and inconvenience she was caused.

Delays in repairing a toilet leak

10. Ms X reported a toilet leak. She said three operatives visited and failed to repair it. She complained to the Council in late September 2024 that the toilet was still leaking. She waited in all day and no-one attended. She followed this up and was told someone had attended the following Monday and had fixed the leak but that was not in the toilet she had reported.
11. The Council in its complaint response said the initial appointment was booked for the Friday but due to an IT error did not reach the worker until the Monday when they attended and fixed the leak. It said this was a follow up repair following a visit nine days earlier where the worker was unable to isolate the leak. It said it could not always guarantee a first time fix and when this happened it would arrange a follow up repair. It offered Ms X £20 in recognition of the missed appointment.
12. In its stage two response of 20 December 2024 which also addressed the other issues outlined below, it increased its offer to £70 to acknowledge the delay in repairing the toilet.

Noisy pipes at the property

13. Ms X reported noisy pipes at the property in January 2024. The noise was loud and intermittent and occurred at various time during the day. Due to Ms X’s disabilities the noise was having a significant impact. The Council attended in May 2024 but did not find any faults. Ms X contacted it again about the noise and it attended again in July 2024. The Council did not resolve the issue and Ms X complained.
14. In the stage one response the Council said it was working on a solution but it needed other residents to provide access and would schedule a date for its operatives to attend. It did not do this. In the stage two response of late September 2024 it said it sent a specialist plumber in September 2024 but they could not access Ms X’s property. They inspected communal areas but did not find any faults or noise. It was therefore going ahead with the initial plan to attend all units. As the noise was intermittent and involved multiple individual units it was complex to investigate. However it accepted it had failed to diligently manage and progress this case. It said staff had seen videos of the noise which it accepted was severe and disturbing. It offered Ms X £180 (£20 a month) for the inconvenience and distress caused by the noise.
15. The Council attended the property in late October 2024 but was unable to access the neighbouring flats. It said a neighbour reported the noise occurred when they used their hot tap.
16. A heating engineer attended in December 2024. They reported the neighbour ran their hot water but this did not cause any unusual noises. The Council’s complaints department liaised with housing who agreed to visit Ms X to listen to her recordings of the noise to try and establish what might be causing it.

The continued disrepair at the property and the lack of engagement by the temporary accommodation manager in supporting with this

17. In late September 2024 Ms X complained to the Council again. She said in her entire time at the hostel there had been constant disrepair. She had been signposted to the temporary accommodation manager many times but when she contacted them they did not respond. They had only contacted her to advise that she had been nominated for permanent accommodation, but this could not happen due to her arrears. She said they were not interested in the repair issues.
18. The Council responded to the complaint in October 2024. It acknowledged the difficulties Ms X had with the condition of the accommodation. It said due to her level of arrears and lack of a repayment plan it had not been able to offer permanent accommodation. It said it would address her concerns about the temporary accommodation.
19. The Council responded at the second stage of the complaints procedure in December 2024. It said it had relayed her feedback to the temporary accommodation manager to reiterate the standards expected of all staff.
20. It said an officer had visited the property and identified the following repairs:
• Overhaul the windows
• Remove mould around bedside window
• Fit vent in cupboard
• Silicon worktop
• Remove kitchen unit and fill in holes to prevent slugs getting in.
21. It apologised there had been some delay in dealing with these repairs. It said its contractor had measured the windows and it was awaiting a quote. It said its supervisor with the contractor had left which had added to the delay. The works were now allocated to a new supervisor.
22. Regarding the noise it said its plumber had inspected the building and had not found a cause related to the plumbing so it had referred it to its heating team. It had also appointed a repairs complaints officer as a contact for Ms X who had kept her up to date.
23. The Council offered Ms X £500 for her time and trouble and the inconvenience and distress caused by its failures plus an additional £70 to acknowledge the delay in repairing the toilet referred to above.
24. In April 2025 Ms X contacted the Council. The contractor had installed one new window at Ms X’s property. It did not replace the second window which the council says has since been ordered.

Findings

25. The Council had a duty to ensure Ms X’s temporary accommodation was fit for purpose and free from disrepair. Since moving in, Ms X has reported a number of issues and the Council has accepted it has missed arranged appointments, failed to communicate effectively with her about appointments and was slow to resolve her concerns. This was fault which caused Ms X continued frustration and time and trouble in chasing up the repairs.
26. Since January 2024 Ms X has raised her concern about intermittent noise from pipes in the property. It is acknowledged that this may be a complex issue that is difficult to resolve, and the Council has sought input from a plumber and heating engineer. However, the Council took far too long before it did this. It failed to properly investigate, to listen to Ms X’s recordings and to explore all available avenues to rectify the problem. This is fault and has meant Ms X has suffered from the noise for far longer than she should have.
27. The Council has made payments to Ms X which have gone some way to acknowledge the distress and frustration she has experienced but it has failed to take ownership of the repairs issues she has raised and to ensure they were resolved in a timely manner which has added to Ms X’s frustration. The Council’s stage two response of December 2024 set out that the Council had inspected the property and it identified some key repairs which it assigned to its contractor. However, only one of two windows was replaced despite both being measured previously and the Council’s agreement to ‘overhaul the windows’. It is also unclear as to whether the Council has yet completed the other works it identified were required.

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Agreed Action

28. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Ms X and pay her £300 to acknowledge the continued frustration caused by the Council’s failure to properly manage her repair requests. 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.
• meet with Ms X to agree what further repairs are required.
29. Following the meeting the Council has agreed to prepare an action plan setting out the timescales for completion of the identified repairs and provide Ms X with a copy. The repairs should be carried out within two months of the date of the final decision on this complaint.
30. Within three months of the final decision the Council has agreed to review its temporary accommodation repairs policy and procedures to ensure:
1. it and its contractors are considering repeated disrepair reports from tenants when assessing the urgency and timescale for a repair and whether an overall inspection of the property is required.
2. tenants are communicated with effectively when the Council is arranging, altering or cancelling appointments.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. I found fault causing injustice which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman