Summary: Mr X complained it took the Council too long to give him a decision on his homelessness application and did not respond to his concerns about the suitability of the accommodation it provided him with. Mr X said he has lived in a property which he believed was unsuitable. We found the Council at fault for the time it took to give him a decision on his homelessness application and look at the suitability of his accommodation. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment to him and carry out a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complaints the Council took too long to give him a decision on his homeless application and did not address the concerns he raised about the suitability of the accommodation it provided him.
2. Mr X said he has lived in accommodation for a long time which he feels is unsuitable for his needs and this has negatively impacted his health.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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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How I considered this complaint

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

9. 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.
10. There are two types of accommodation councils provide for certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
11. A council must secure accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This is called interim accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
12. If, having made inquiries, the council is not satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible, and in priority need, it will have no further accommodation duty.
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. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty, but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
15. 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 and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
16. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it. This is important because there is a statutory right to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. This then carries a right of appeal to county court on a point of law. There is no statutory right to review the suitability of interim accommodation.

What happened

17. In early July 2023, Mr X contacted the Council as he had received a possession order from the courts requiring him to leave his privately rented property. The Council sent Mr X a medical assessment from to complete and he returned this to the Council on 11 July 2023.
18. In late July 2023, the Council provided Mr X with interim accommodation in a self-contained flat.
19. In mid-September 2023, Mr X wrote to the Council with a list of concerns about his interim accommodation. These included:
• There being a flight of steps to access the property.
• The bath did not have handles so Mr X found it difficult to access.
• Issues about the furniture in the property.
• Fumes from a downstairs restaurant.
• Mr X not knowing if the fire alarm worked.
• The accommodation agreement said Mr X could not use cooking facilities at the property.
20. In late September 2023, the Council sent Mr X a suitability form to complete. This form did not ask for information about the problems at Mr X’s property, but information about his needs. Mr X returned the form to the Council in November 2023.
21. In early February 2024, Mr X complained to the Council about the condition of this property. Mr X said he had not received a response from the Council since he sent it the completed suitability form in November 2023.
22. In mid-February 2024, the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. The Council said it would look at the suitability of Mr X’s accommodation and had asked its casework team to provide him with an update on his homelessness application.
23. In mid-March 2024, Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint at the next stage of its process.
24. The Council send a temporary accommodation officer to visit Mr X’s property on 8 April 2024.
25. On 10 April 2024, the Council provided its final response to Mr X’s complaint. The Council said:
• The medical form it had on file for Mr X was out of date. It would send Mr X a new form to complete. Once the Council received this it would send the documents to its medical assessor and decide about the suitability of his accommodation within 14 days.
• It apologised for not sending Mr X a medical assessment form when he raised concerns about his property in November 2023.
• The Council said it needed to visit his property to assess the condition and suitability of the property.
• It upheld Mr X’s complaints as it had not decided his homelessness application and there were delays addressing his concerns about the suitability of his property. The Council offered Mr X £1,400 to recognise the distress, time and trouble, assessment delays and delays assessing suitability.
26. On 22 Apil 2024, Mr X sent the Council a completed medical assessment form. In mid-May 2024 Mr X chased the Council for a response as he had not heard anything back from the Council about the suitability of his accommodation or a decision on his homelessness application.
27. On 31 May 2024, the Council decided Mr X was not in priority need and did not owe him the main housing duty. The Council wrote to Mr X and told him this decision. On 21 June 2024, Mr X asked the Council to review its decision not to owe him the main housing duty.
28. In early September 2024, the Council decided Mr X’s review. The Council decided it would withdraw the non-priority need decision and make further enquiries into Mr X’s case.
29. On 4 February 2025, the Council sent Mr X’s medical information to its medical assessor. The medical assessor recommended Mr X could live in properties no higher than the first floor unless there was a lift.
30. On 5 February 2025, the Council decided to owe Mr X the main housing duty and write to him with this decision. The Council also told Mr X it believed his current accommodation was suitable but he could ask it to review the suitability. Shortly after Mr X asked the Council to review the suitability of his accommodation.

Analysis

Suitability of Mr X’s accommodation

31. Mr X initially raised concerns about his accommodation in September 2023. Following this the Council sent him a form to complete which he did and sent back to the Council in November 2023. Following on from this the Council did not take any steps to look into Mr X’s concerns. This was fault. As a result he made a formal complaint in February 2024.
32. The Council has recognised it did not consider the suitability of Mr X’s property or deal with his concerns and offered him a financial remedy to address this in April 2024. At this time I am satisfied the Council’s remedy was suitable to address the injustice caused to Mr X.
33. In its final complaint response the Council agreed to look at the suitability of Mr X’s property, but it delayed doing so. This was fault. The Council did not tell Mr X whether it considered his property suitable until 5 February 2025. It did not pass his case to its medical assessor to consider what type of property was suitable for Mr X until early February 2025. This has caused further injustice as Mr X has had to wait longer for the Council to look into the issues in his property and decide whether it believed the property was suitable.

Homelessness application

34. The Council placed Mr X into interim accommodation in July 2023. It took the Council until May 2024 to decide whether it owed him the main housing duty. This was fault. I cannot see any reasons to justify such a long time to decide whether to owe Mr X the main housing duty.
35. This caused Mr X injustice as he was clearly unhappy with the accommodation he was living in. Had the Council decided to owe him the main housing duty he could have asked for a review of this accommodation.
36. The Council recognised this in its complaint response and offered Mr X a financial remedy. This is welcomed and I am satisfied the remedy the Council offered was suitable to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X.
37. However there were further delays from the Council after it decided to withdraw its non-priority need decision and make further enquiries. In September 2024 it decided to withdraw this decision, however it took until February 2025 to decide to owe Mr X the main housing duty. During this time the Council already had the medical information Mr X provided and a copy of his medical assessment form. From September 2024 to February 2025, I cannot see what further enquiries the Council made until it sent the case to its medical assessor in February 2025.
38. Mr X has had to wait a significant amount of time to receive a decision as to whether the Council owed him the main housing duty. During this time he has lived in interim accommodation which he did not believe was suitable. Had the Council not delayed deciding it owed Mr X the main housing duty he could have asked the Council to review the suitability of this accommodation much sooner.

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Agreed Action

39. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Mr X for the above faults. 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.
• If the Council has not done so already, pay Mr X the £1,400 it offered to him at stage two of its complaints process.
• Pay Mr X £500 to recognise the distress and uncertainty he experienced caused by the further delays deciding his homelessness application and the suitability of his accommodation after the complaints process.
40. Within two months of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Consider why it took so long to address Mr X’s concerns about his accommodation and decide whether it owed him the main housing duty. The Council should report back to the Ombudsman with steps it will take to improve its procedures so others are not affected in the same way.
41. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

I have completed my investigation and find fault casing injustice. The Council agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman