Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to offer support with his homelessness since 2021. We found the Council to be at fault because it failed to carry out enquiries about his homelessness in 2024. This caused Mr X frustration, time and trouble. In response to his complaint, the Council apologised, made a payment to Mr X and made service improvements. This is an appropriate remedy, and we do not recommend anything further. We did not investigate what happened between 2021 and 2023 because this part of Mr X’s complaint was late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to offer him advice and support with his homelessness when the Council became aware of his situation in 2021.
2. Mr X says this caused significant distress and frustration.
3. He also complains the Council’s financial remedy is inadequate.

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. 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)
6. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

7. 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)

What I have and have not investigated

8. Mr X complains about events that happened from 2021, when he first served Miss D with notice to quit.
9. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are clear and compelling reasons to do so.
10. I see no reason why Mr X could not have complained much earlier than he did. His complaint about the Council’s failure to provide support with his homelessness between 2021 and 2023 is therefore late, and the Ombudsman will not exercise its discretion to investigate.
11. I have investigated what happened in 2024.

How I considered this complaint

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

What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Homelessness

14. Part 7 of the 1996 Act sets out the powers and duties of housing authorities where people apply to them for accommodation or assistance in obtaining accommodation in cases of homelessness or threatened homelessness.

Duty to make enquiries

15. Where the council has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it should make enquiries to enable it to decide if they are eligible for assistance and, if so, what duty it owes them. (Housing Act 1996, section 184)

Interim accommodation

16. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188.) This is called interim accommodation. Applicants with medical conditions or have been in prison may be in priority need. The courts have decided councils do not have to be certain an applicant does not have a priority need, just that they may have. This is a low threshold.

What happened

Contextual information

17. Mr X owns a property (the Property) that he rented to a family member, Miss D. In 2021, Mr X’s circumstances changed, and he served Ms D with an eviction notice. He intended moving into the Property. In the meantime, he had nowhere to live and had to stay with relatives.
18. Miss D made a homelessness application to the Council. She exercised her right to remain in the Property until Mr X obtained a valid possession order from the court.

Events I have investigated

19. In April 2024, Mr X obtained a possession order compelling Miss D to vacate the Property by 20 May 2024.
20. On 15 May 2024, a housing officer, Officer P, contacted Mr X to ask whether he would allow Miss D to remain in the Property until the end of June when her temporary accommodation became available. Mr X explained this was problematic because he was homeless and had ready waited several years to regain possession of the property. In a follow up letter to Officer P, Mr X agreed to allow Miss D to remain in the property, if the Council provided him with temporary accommodation and expenses.
21. Mr X did not receive a response to this proposal, despite several reminders, and so lodged a formal complaint.
22. In response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council said:

• Officer P recalled verbally advising Mr X of his entitlement to make a homelessness application during their conversation on 15 May 2024, but this was not recorded;
• it accepted Officer P had sufficient information to trigger the Council’s duty to make enquiries about Mr X’s homelessness, but failed to do so;
• even if such enquiries had been made, Mr X would not have been entitled to temporary accommodation because he was not in priority need; and
• it had reminded staff of the need to consider the landlord’s personal circumstances as well as the tenant’s when considering homelessness duties.

23. The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint. It apologised and made a payment of £150 to acknowledge his time, trouble and frustration caused by the failure to offer advice and assistance.
24. Disappointed with this outcome, Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman.
25. Mr X regained possession of his property in early June 2024.

Analysis

26. Mr X is understandably frustrated that it took over three years to obtain vacant possession of the Property. Unfortunately, this can be a consequence of being a landlord and the long delay was mainly caused by issues with the eviction notice and Miss D’s personal circumstances. For the reason I explained above, I have not investigated the Council’s role in these earlier events.
27. The Council has accepted it acted with fault when it failed to make enquiries into Mr X’s homelessness in May 2024. I agree with the Council’s conclusion that he would not have been entitled to interim accommodation, even if it had carried it had made enquiries. This is because there is no evidence to suggest Mr X may be in priority need.
28. Because there was no obligation on the Council to provide interim accommodation, I am satisfied the personal injustice to Mr W was limited to his frustration, time trouble. This was caused by the Council failing to acknowledge his own homelessness or respond to his request for accommodation. Officer C should have promptly advised Mr X the Council was not going to provide him with temporary accommodation.
29. The Council has already apologised and offered Mr X £150. I consider this to be an appropriate remedy and in line with the Ombudsman’s published Guidance on Remedies. In its complaint response, the Council has also reminded relevant staff of the need to consider the landlord’s circumstances when considering homelessness duties and keep notes of discussions.
30. This is a proportionate and appropriate outcome. The Ombudsman cannot add anything further to what the Council has already done.

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Final decision

31. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has already taken appropriate action to remedy the injustice and improve its service. The Ombudsman cannot add anything further to this. We did not investigate part of Mr X’s complaint because it was late.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman