Summary: Miss B complained that the Council had failed to provide suitable temporary accommodation for her and her family since August 2024. We found fault with the Council. We have asked it to apologise to Miss B and pay her £2,750.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (the Council) has failed to find her and family suitable accommodation. The family have been living in one room shared accommodation well in excess of the statutory six week limit, which the Council agreed was unsuitable in August 2024. The failure to find alternative accommodation has caused significant and ongoing distress to the whole family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
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 Miss B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Miss B 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

Suitability of accommodation

6. 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)
7. 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.
8. The duty to provide suitable accommodation is immediate, non-deferrable, and unqualified. (Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601)

What happened

9. Miss B, her partner and two children were made homeless in April 2024. The Council housed them in hotel accommodation until May 2024 when it moved them to a hostel, owned and managed by the Council. The accommodation was one room with an ensuite bathroom and shared kitchen and laundry facilities. The Council accepted the main housing duty towards them in June 2024 and Miss B requested a review of the suitability of their current accommodation.
10. On 23 August 2024 the Council carried out the review and concluded that their accommodation was unsuitable, and they would be offered alternative accommodation.
11. Miss B also complained to the Council about the failure to find them suitable accommodation. The Council replied in September 2024 acknowledging the difficulties the family were facing. It said there was an acute shortage of accommodation, it was not the Council’s sole responsibility to find a home for them and they had agreed as part of their personal housing plan to look for properties in the private sector. It gave links to places to look for accommodation and said their housing register application was pending assessment, but currently there was a 12 year wait for a two bedroom property.
12. Miss B complained to us. Since complaining to us the Council has carried out a review of their financial situation. It has concluded they will struggle to afford accommodation in the local area and would be better to look in a different part of the country.
13. The Council has explained it has 250 households in emergency accommodation (including Miss B). She is 23rd in the list of priority for more suitable temporary accommodation. It says it is working with private landlords and managing agents to increase the supply of temporary accommodation and up to the end of quarter three of the current financial year it has discharged its duty to 503 households.
14. The Council acknowledges Miss B’s personal housing plan was not signed and had not been updated before or after the accommodation was found to be unsuitable in August 2024. In recognition of the fault, it offered £1600 to the family.
15. It has also said that Miss B’s partner gave up his job in February 2025 which has made finding suitable accommodation which they can afford more difficult. It also said Miss B and her family were out of the country for six weeks in March and April 2025 which meant the Council could not work with them to find accommodation.
16. The Council said Miss B and Mr C moved into alternative temporary accommodation on 27 August 2025.

Analysis

Accommodation

17. The Council had an immediate duty to find Ms B suitable temporary accommodation from 23 August 2024 when it concluded her current accommodation was not suitable for her household’s needs.
18. Even allowing for a reasonable period of time to find more suitable accommodation the Council has taken over a year later to meet that duty.
19. We accept the Council has tried to find alternative accommodation but due to the shortage of accommodation and the pressures on the available accommodation it had not been able to find anything. But even taking into account the six weeks the family spent abroad, and allowing a short time for the Council to arrange accommodation, the time taken is excessive. As explained in paragraph 2 it is service failure and therefore fault.
20. Miss B and her family have been living in severely overcrowded unsuitable accommodation for a year longer than they should have been. The family cannot sleep, properly, the children cannot play anywhere, and the shared facilities make daily living difficult. This has caused them significant distress and frustration.

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Action

21. While we welcome the Council’s offer of a payment to remedy the injustice, we consider an increased amount is appropriate, given that a family of four has been living in one room for many months without separate cooking or laundry facilities.
22. 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 recommended the Council within one month of the date of my final decision:
• Apologise to Miss B in line with our guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice.
• Pay Miss B £2750 for every month she lived in unsuitable accommodation from October 2024 until August 2025 (ten months @£275 per month). This is instead of the £1600 it has already offered.
23. Given the acute shortage of accommodation in the area, the pressure on the available accommodation and the steps the Council is already taking to improve the situation, I have not made any recommendations for service improvements.
24. The Council has agreed to the recommendations and should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

25. 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