Overview:

Key to names used

• Mrs B The complainant

Summary

Mr X complained about the lack of support and accommodation the Council provided after he became homeless in 2024. He says this caused him significant stress while he was street homeless and made his health conditions worse.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

To remedy the injustice caused, we recommend the Council:

• apologise to Mr B for the lack of suitable accommodation and the distress this caused to him in early 2024;
• pay Mr B £875 to recognise the lack of that accommodation and distress; and
• pay Mr B a further £300 to recognise the added distress caused by him being avoidably street homeless during that time.
• We also recommend the Council:

  • remind its homelessness staff of the correct test and threshold for the interim accommodation duty, in particular that the threshold for this is a low one;

  • review its standard homelessness letters to ensure these comply with the requirements of the Housing Act 1996, in particular about explanations of review and appeal rights; and

  • remind its homelessness staff of the requirements for homelessness decisions, including when these should be made and what such decisions must contain.

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