London Borough of Sutton (24 012 627)

Category : Housing > Homelessness

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 05 Jun 2025

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council told her it would no longer store her belongings it had looked after since 2022, and threatened to dispose of them if she did not move them at a significant cost to her of £1,000 plus VAT. We found fault in the way the Council reached this decision but it has now agreed to continue to store the belongings and pay the cost of returning them to Miss X in due course. We are satisfied this action together with an apology provides a suitable remedy to Miss X.

The complaint

  1. Miss X complains the Council told her it will no longer store her belongings it has looked after since 2022, and threatened to dispose of them if she did not move them at a significant cost to her of £1,000 plus VAT.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. 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

  1. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
  2. 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

Background and legislation

  1. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

What happened

  1. The following is a summary of key events relating to this complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
  2. The Council has stored Miss X’s belongings since July 2022. The Council contacted Miss X in May 2024 to say she would need to make alternative arrangements to store her belongings as the Council had stored them for a long period and that was now coming to an end. The Council gave a deadline of the end of June 2024 to make alternative arrangements.
  3. Miss X responded to the Council in May to say she could not do so as she was living in temporary accommodation with no space for her belongings and she had no money to pay for storage.
  4. The Council wrote to Miss X towards the end of May to highlight it had discharged its housing duty to her in 2023 and the belongings continued to be stored at the Council’s expense. The Council noted it was reasonable given the passage of time for it to no longer bear the financial burden. The Council suggested Miss X discuss the matter with the housing authority where she was now living in temporary accommodation. The Council stated there was no justification for the Council to continue to pay the monthly payment a year after discharging its housing duty. The Council noted the cost to date of storing the belongings and that it was unreasonable to expect this to continue indefinitely. The Council confirmed the deadline of the end of June 2024 for Miss X to make alternative arrangements and that it reserved the right to dispose of the items.
  5. Miss X contacted the housing authority where she was living in interim accommodation to see if it would offer assistance.
  6. Miss X advised the Council towards the end of June that she had not been able to find any alternative to store her belongings and she had no money to make such arrangements.
  7. Miss X complained to the Council at the end of July. The Council responded to Miss X in early August to say it did not uphold her complaint and the request for her to make her own arrangements to collect the stored items was reasonable.
  8. Miss X escalated her complaint at the end of August. The Council provided a reply in early September. The Council noted the period of time since it had discharged its housing duty to Miss X and that it was unreasonable to expect it to continue to store her belongings indefinitely. The Council noted Miss X was not in a position to arrange delivery of her belongings and agreed to store them until the end of October 2024 when it would review the matter.
  9. The Council subsequently offered to pay £200 towards the cost of transferring Miss X’s belongings to her in due course. The Council had advised that the cost would be £1,000 plus VAT. Miss X confirmed in September and she could not afford this. Miss X also stated she had other belongings stored at a school and asked for these to be delivered to her with the belongings stored by the Council when she had found a property.
  10. The Council wrote to Miss X towards the end of September to say as she had secured settled accommodation it had no further duty to store her belongings as there was no reason to believe they were at risk of damage as she was able to protect them herself. The Council confirmed it would still pay £200 towards the cost of delivery but it would not deliver any items Miss X had stored elsewhere including at the school.
  11. Miss X contacted the Council at the end of September to dispute she had secured settled accommodation. The Council confirmed Miss X had completed its complaint procedure.
  12. The Council wrote to Miss X in mid-October to say she needed to make immediate arrangements to collect her belongings as it had now paid over £4,000 in storage fees since its housing duty had ended. Miss X responded to say she could not afford to do this.
  13. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman.
  14. The Council has advised the Ombudsman that it had subsequently clarified with Miss X she had not secured settled accommodation. The Council says it will continue to store Miss X’s belongings in its paid storage facility and will pay the full cost of returning those belongings once she has secured settled accommodation. This proposal would only apply to those items stored under the Council’s arrangement and not to any belongings Miss X has stored independently. The Council will review the matter every six months and has asked Miss X to keep it informed of any change to her circumstances.

My consideration

  1. Sections 211 and 212 of the Housing Act 1996 sets out the Council’s duties and powers to protect property. The council has a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the loss of a person’s property, or to mitigate damage, when it has reason to believe:
  • there is danger the applicant’s personal property will be lost or damaged;
  • the danger arises because the applicant is unable to protect it or deal with it; and
  • no other suitable arrangements have been made.
  1. This duty applies when the authority is, or has been, subject to one of the following duties:
  • the interim duty to accommodate the applicant
  • the section 189B relief duty
  • the section 195(2) prevention duty
  • the main housing duty
  • the short-term accommodation duty owed under section 190(2) to a person in priority need who is intentionally homeless
  • where the main housing duty is owed to a person who is being considered for referral to another housing authority
  1. It is important to note that the Council’s duty to protect the property does not automatically end when the other duties cease. It must continue to protect the property if it is still at risk of loss or damage. Councils may have a duty to protect property for months or even years after the duty triggering it ends.
  2. In summary, there are only two ways for the Council’s duty to end. If Miss X asks for her belongings to be moved to a suitable location or if the Council considers there is no longer any danger the belongings could be lost or damaged (which may be because Miss X has found somewhere to store them or becomes able to afford the cost of storage).
  3. However, the Council’s correspondence with Miss X suggested it would no longer store her belongings based on the length of time it had stored them and the cost of this, rather than explaining why there was no longer reason to believe the items were at danger of loss or damage because of Miss X’s inability to protect them. This is fault which will have caused Miss X uncertainty about her belongings.
  4. I am satisfied the Council’s proposal above with the addition of an apology provides a suitable remedy to Miss X.

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Action

  1. Within one month of my final decision the Council will write to Miss X to apologise for wrongly suggesting it would end its duty to protect her belongings and confirm it will continue to store these until there is no longer reason to believe there is a danger of loss of or damage to them by reason of her inability to protect or deal with them. The Council should also confirm to Miss X it will pay the full cost of returning those belongings currently in its paid storage facility to her in due course.
  2. 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.
  3. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

  1. 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

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