Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to address her reports of damp, mould, mice and a collapsed floor in temporary accommodation it housed her and her family in. We find the Council at fault for failing to address the disrepair which left Miss X in unsuitable accommodation for six months in 2024. This caused significant injustice to Miss X and her family. The Council has agreed to make a payment to her to remedy the injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to address her reports of disrepair in her temporary accommodation. The reports of disrepair included:

• Damp and mould.
• Infestation of mice.
• A sunken and unstable floor that made it dangerous for her family to access the bathroom.

2. She complains the Council’s lack of action to address the disrepair meant the temporary accommodation was unsuitable, put her family at risk of harm and caused 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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.
6. 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

7. I have investigated Miss X’s complaints about disrepair from February 2024, when she said the condition of the property deteriorated a lot. I have investigated matters until August 2024 when she moved into new accommodation offered by the Council.
8. Miss X complained about disrepair from when she first moved in in 2018. They happened more than 12 months before Miss X complained to us and are therefore late. I have decided there are no good reasons Miss X could not have complained about the late complaints to us sooner. Therefore I have not investigated the earlier matters.
9. Normally we do not investigate complaints about the suitability of temporary accommodation because people can ask for a council review and appeal to court. However I have decided to investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because we normally do not expect complainants to appeal to court where a council accepts temporary accommodation in unsuitable. In this case the Council accepted repairs were required and delayed. I have decided this meant it accepted Miss X’s accommodation was unsuitable.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Miss X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness and temporary accommodation

12. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 184 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 6.2 and 18.5)
13. 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)
14. 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)

Hazards and disrepair

15. Accommodation is not suitable if it falls below certain minimum standards. The Code recommends that any accommodation should, as a minimum, be free of “Category One” hazards assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating system. A category one hazard is a hazard that poses a serious threat to someone’s health or safety, such as exposed wiring. If a council considers a category one hazard exists it must take the appropriate enforcement action. If there is a category two hazard, the council has the power to take enforcement action.
16. In relation to disrepair, in the first instance, occupiers are expected to report any defects to the landlord or managing agent. Councils should have an agreement with the landlord or agent which sets out the minimum property standards and timescales to deal with responsive repairs, including loss of heating or hot water supply. If the landlord or agent fails to respond and does not inspect the property and arrange for works to be done in a reasonable time, the applicant may then contact the council.

What happened

17. Below is a brief chronology of key events. It is not intended to show everything that happened.
18. Miss X and her children lived in the property since 2018. The Council housed her there as temporary accommodation. She started reporting disrepair issues to the Council when she first moved in. These included leaks inside and outside, mould in her child’s bedroom, damp and a mouse infestation.
19. It was a private sector rented property. The Council referred Miss X’s disrepair issues to an organisation it commissions to provide and maintain private rented properties for use as temporary accommodation (the maintenance organisation).
20. Miss X said the condition of the property deteriorated significantly in February 2024. She reported the floor leading to the bathroom floor was collapsing. She said she and her children had to jump over it to access the bathroom. She also reported a worsening mouse infestation due to new access points in the kitchen.
21. Miss X reported the issues to the Council and the maintenance organisation lots of times in 2024. There are records of her providing photographs of the collapsed floor and mice in the property. She spent a lots of time communicating with them and arranging access for repair contractors. However, repairs were not completed.
22. In July the landlord’s agent told the Council the issues were so bad the repairs could only be done if the property was vacated. It said the property was a health and safety risk and uninhabitable due to a sunken sub-floor, pests, mould and damp. I have seen no evidence the Council inspected the property to determine if there were category 1 hazards.
23. At the end of July the Council offered Miss X different temporary accommodation. She accepted the offer and moved in early August.
24. Miss X formally complained to the Council. She asked that it consider compensating her rent given it agreed the disrepair was unacceptable. The Council accepted the disrepair issues were unacceptable and apologised. It said rent payments are unrelated to the repair issues. It acknowledged the distressing and difficult situation for Miss X and her family and offered £200.
25. Miss X was unhappy with the Council’s response and complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

26. I have considered photographs and video clips provided by Miss X that show mice, damp and the collapsed floor. I have also considered all the records of communication between Miss X, the Council, the maintenance organisation and the landlord’s agent. Based on this evidence I find the Council was aware the temporary accommodation it provided was unsuitable due to its physical condition. Whilst I cannot say there were category 1 or category 2 hazards, the Council and the maintenance organisation failed to ensure repairs were made. This was fault which caused significant injustice to Miss X in the form of distress and frustration. She was concerned about her and her children’s health and the hazard posed by the collapsed floor when accessing her bathroom. This applied for the whole period between February and July that I have investigated.
27. When the Council responded to Miss X’s complaint it referred to the maintenance organisation not carrying out repairs in line with expectations. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions.
28. I would ordinarily have recommended the Council apologise to Miss X for the distress caused. However, the Council has already made a satisfactory apology which meets the standards we would expect.
29. I have considered whether to recommend service improvements. I note the Council undertook to monitor and improve repairs in its complaint response to Miss X. The Council has also agreed to recent service improvement recommendations in response to a different decision we have made. I therefore make no further service improvement recommendations.
30. I have considered the Council’s offer of £200 compensation. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should effectively remedy injustice. It includes subject specific guidance for housing. It states where a complainant has been deprived of suitable accommodation, our recommendation for financial redress is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month. I consider the injustice caused to Miss X and her family should be £200 for each of the six months between February and July.

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Action

31. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions. Where we find fault with the actions of the service provider, we can make recommendations to the council alone. Here we have found fault with the actions of the maintenance organisation and the Council and make the following recommendations to the Council.
32. Within four weeks of the date of this decision the Council should pay Miss X £1,200 for the injustice caused. This is inclusive of, not additional to, the £200 it has already offered.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

34. I uphold Miss X’s complaint and find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman