Summary: Miss X complained that the Council housed her and her three young children in unsuitable bed and breakfast and hostel accommodation when she was homeless. We find the Council at fault for housing Miss X in unsuitable accommodation, its delay in assessing her application for social housing, and failing to make and communicate a homelessness decision. This caused Miss X significant distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her homelessness case. She complains in particular the Council has housed her and her three young children in unsuitable accommodation since April 2024.
2. She says that living in a single room in a hostel, with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities, has caused significant distress.

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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. 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

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

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
9. 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)

The prevention duty

10. If a council is satisfied an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, it must take steps to help the applicant keep their home or find somewhere new to live. In deciding what steps to take, a council must have regard to its assessment of the applicant’s case. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
11. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)

The relief duty

12. If the person becomes homeless, the Council must help to secure suitable accommodation if it is satisfied that an applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance. (Housing Act 1996, section189B) This is the relief duty.
13. The relief duty requires an authority to “take reasonable steps” to help the applicant to secure suitable accommodation which is available for occupation for at least six months. “Help to secure” does not mean that the authority has to source and provide accommodation, but that it should try to agree reasonable steps for itself and the applicant which could result in accommodation being found.
14. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188) Applicants in priority need may include people who have dependent children.
15. If the council decides the person is in priority need and not intentionally homeless, the relief duty ends automatically after 56 days, even if the applicant has not found accommodation. There is no discretion to extend it. Where inquiries are not completed before the end of the relief duty, the Code advises the decision should be made within 15 working days from when the relief duty ends. (Housing Act 1996, section189B(7)(c))

The main housing duty

16. When the relief period ends the authority must decide whether it owes the person the main housing duty. It will owe the main housing duty to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and who are not homeless intentionally. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
17. The Code of Guidance states that people owed the main housing duty should be notified the day after the relief duty ends.
18. If the authority accepts the main duty, it must then secure that suitable accommodation is available for occupation by the applicant. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)

Suitability of accommodation – including out of area placements and use of B&Bs

19. 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)
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)
21. If the Council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the Council must provide suitable accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)
22. Councils must consider the location of accommodation when they consider if it is suitable for the applicant and members of their household. If a council places an applicant outside its district, it must consider, among other matters:

• the distance of the accommodation from the “home” district;
• the significance of any disruption to the education of members of the applicant’s household; and
• the proximity and accessibility to local services, amenities and transport. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 2012)

23. Wherever possible, Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.33)
24. 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. 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 paragraph 17.35)

What happened

25. Below is a summary of the key events in this investigation. It is not an exhaustive chronology of every exchange between parties. Where necessary, I have expanded on some of these events in the “Analysis” section of this decision statement.
26. Miss X lives with her young children. Her children were under the age of four at the beginning of the period I have investigated. In January 2024 she told the Council she was threatened with homelessness. It accepted it owed her the prevention duty and completed a personal housing plan.
27. The Council completed further inquiries and decided it owed her the relief duty in February.
28. In early April, Miss X and her children were evicted from their home. The Council initially housed them in interim accommodation. It was B&B type accommodation at various locations. Miss X stayed in this type of accommodation for six weeks.
29. Later in April 2024 Miss X applied to join the Council’s social housing allocation scheme.
30. In May the Council moved Miss X and her children to temporary accommodation in a hostel. They slept in one room and had shared bathroom and kitchen facilities.
31. In June the Council rejected Miss X’s application for its social housing scheme. It said this was because she had not lived in the borough for three years. Miss X complained that it had made a mistake. The Council accepted she had lived in the borough for at least three years and reinstated her application. It explained there would be a delay in assessing her application due to a current backlog.
32. The Council wrote to Miss X in June and told her it had accepted the main housing duty. Miss X also asked the Council to review the suitability of the hostel in June.
33. Miss X asked the Council about her application for its social housing scheme in July. The Council replied it had not been allocated to a person to assess it. It said it was likely to be allocated within two weeks.
34. In August the Council responded to Miss X’s request for a review of the suitability of the hostel. It said “Having carefully considered all the available information I am satisfied that your present accommodation is not suitable for you. You will therefore be made an alternative offer.”
35. Miss X complained to the Council in October. She said she was still in unsuitable accommodation despite the outcome of the review in August. The Council responded later in October. It said there was an acute shortage of temporary accommodation in the borough and reminded her that there were steps she could take. It summarised the help it could offer and urged her to look for a property in the private rented sector. It said that was the quickest way to move into a permanent home that met the needs of her family.
36. In November the Council finalised its assessment of Miss X’s housing register application. It accepted her application and awarded a high priority because her household was overcrowded. She started bidding on properties.
37. Miss X then escalated her complaint about the suitability of the hostel. The Council said it would provide a response in December. It did not provide a response until January 2025. It said it deemed her current accommodation sufficient but accepted it was not suitable. It summarised the actions it had taken to try to find her suitable accommodation. It also summarised the steps Miss X could take to find accommodation. It acknowledged it had not provided information about the steps it had taken before that point, apologised, and offered £100 in recognition of that failing.

Analysis and findings

Homelessness inquiries and decisions

38. I note the Council initially made timely inquiries and decisions regarding the prevention duty, relief duty and personal housing plan.
39. The Council should have decided whether it owed Miss X the main housing duty 56 days after it accepted the relief duty and notified Miss X of that decision in April. The Council did not do so until June. This delay was fault. It was important for Miss X to know what homelessness duties she was owed to allow her to understand her position and seek advice. For this reason I find the fault caused Miss X injustice in the form of uncertainty and frustration.
40. I recommend the Council apologise to remedy the injustice.

Application to the register of social housing

41. The Council took seven months to process Miss X’s application to join its social housing scheme, between April and November. There is no statutory timescale for processing housing applications. However, we usually expect a council to make them within eight weeks. We do not apply this rigidly and always consider the individual circumstances of each case before deciding fault but in this instance I am satisfied seven months was too long. I also note the Council made an error when it wrongly cancelled Miss X’s application before it reinstated it. The Council’s delay in assessing Miss X’s application was fault.
42. I have considered the Council’s evidence of the significant waiting list for social housing and cannot say, even on the balance of probabilities, that Miss X lost out on a property due to the Council’s delay. However I do find the delay caused Miss X injustice in the form of uncertainty and frustration.
43. I recommend the Council apologise to remedy the injustice.

Suitability of accommodation

44. The Council initially housed Miss X and her children in unsuitable B&B accommodation and then a hostel that it assessed as unsuitable. This means it has housed her in unsuitable accommodation for at least 14 months from early April 2024.
45. I acknowledge the Council’s comments regarding its severe lack of available suitable accommodation, and the action it took to try to find alternative accommodation in this case. This is evidence than some or all of the delay in finding suitable accommodation was service failure as explained in paragraph 4.
46. However, the law is clear that interim and temporary accommodation provided by councils must be suitable. For this reason, the Council was at fault when it housed Miss X and her children in unsuitable accommodation. I have considered the negative impacts on a parent and three young children from sharing one room with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities for more than a year. I have decided it caused significant injustice in the form of distress.
47. I have considered our guidance on remedies. It says where a complainant has been deprived of suitable accommodation during what would inevitably have been a stressful period in their life, our recommendation for financial redress is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month. I have decided the injustice in this case falls in the middle of this range. I recommend the Council apologise, take further steps to find suitable accommodation, and pay Miss X £275 per month of unsuitable housing.

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Action

48. Within four weeks of the date of this decision the Council should:

1. Pay Miss X £275 for every month it has housed her in unsuitable accommodation from April 2024 until the date of this decision. This is instead of the £100 it has already offered. This is currently 18 months between April 2024 and October 2025 and stands at £4,950.
2. Make an ongoing monthly payment to Miss X of £275 for every month it continues to house her in unsuitable accommodation from the date of this decision. This ongoing payment should end when the Council houses Miss X in suitable temporary or after a period of six months, whichever is sooner.
3. Apologise for the injustice. 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.

49. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

50. I uphold Miss X’s complaint and find fault with the Council’s handling of Miss X’s homelessness case and application for its social housing scheme. This caused 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