Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s delays when she approached it for homelessness assistance. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in awarding Miss X the relevant homelessness duties, for its poor communication and for its delay in providing Miss X with interim accommodation. These faults caused Miss X distress, frustration and upset and she was deprived of suitable accommodation. The Council upheld some of Miss X’s complaints, apologised and offered her £300. The Council has agreed to our further recommendations to apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused by the delay in offering her interim accommodation, make a further payment to her and implement a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s delays when she approached it for homelessness assistance. She says it delayed awarding her the relevant homelessness duties and it delayed providing her with interim accommodation. Miss X also complained the Council’s communication was poor.
2. Miss X says the Council’s actions have caused significant distress. She says she was forced to sleep in unsanitary conditions.

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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. 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

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council 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

7. 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.
8. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
9. If a council is satisfied an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, it must take steps to help the applicant keep their home or find somewhere new to live. This is called the prevention duty. In deciding what steps to take, a council must have regard to its assessment of the applicant’s case. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
10. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
11. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is called the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
12. A council must secure interim accommodation for an applicant and their household if it has reason to believe the applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)

What happened

13. Miss X approached the Council in May 2024 for homelessness assistance. She said she was living at her friend’s house, but she had to leave. The Council contacted Miss X’s friend for some further information. Miss X’s friend said she was looking for a bigger house and she could no longer accommodate Miss X.
14. Miss X attended an appointment with a Council officer, and she provided more details about her circumstances. She provided details of her medical conditions at the end of May.
15. The Council accepted the prevention duty for Miss X in early July. It apologised her case officer had not been in touch since May. It said when the case officer returned from annual leave he would provide a personalised housing plan. Miss X replied and said she had been homeless since the end of May. Since then, she had been rough sleeping on buses and sofa surfing. She asked it to consider interim accommodation. She also said she was due to have a major operation, but she could not confirm the date because she had no accommodation for recovery.
16. The Council responded to Miss X’s email and asked her to send medical evidence. It said it had no reason to believe she was in priority need. Miss X’s advisor sent a letter to the Council and said Miss X had serious health conditions and therefore there was reason to believe she was in priority need. The Council responded and said it would arrange a vulnerability assessment. It said it needed to do this because Miss X’s GP report did not back up the assertions about her medical conditions.
17. Miss X’s advisor provided the Council with further information about Miss X’s medical needs a few days later. This included Miss X’s GP records and information about her depression and anxiety following a previous violent relationship. The Council did not respond.
18. The Council emailed Miss X in mid-July about a house viewing at a privately rented property. Miss X confirmed she would attend but the landlord later cancelled the viewing.
19. The Council sent further emails to Miss X about properties available to view. Miss X said she was unwell and could not attend.
20. Miss X complained to the Council in early September. She said she had been street homeless since the end of May. She said it had failed to provide her with interim accommodation, and it had failed to consider her medical conditions. She also said it had failed to make a decision on her case within 56 days.
21. The Council accepted the relief duty for Miss X in mid-September.
22. The Council spoke to Miss X in late September. Miss X said her friend had moved out of the area and she had no support. She also discussed her history of domestic abuse. The Council decided to offer Miss X interim accommodation while it made a final assessment of her circumstances. It also made a referral to its medical advice agency.
23. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in early October. It said it should have carried out further enquiries when she said she was homeless and sofa surfing in early July. It also delayed considering the further medical information she provided. Finally, it said there was lack of contact from her caseworker. It apologised for service it had provided.
24. Miss X referred her complaint to stage two of its complaints procedure. She said she became homeless at the end of May. She also said she met the priority need threshold before it offered her interim accommodation in September.
25. The Council issued its final response to Miss X’s complaint. It said it was not aware she was no longer living at her friend’s house until early July. It did not offer her interim accommodation before September because it did not have a reason to believe she was homeless, eligible and in priority need. It spoke to her in September, and she explained her friend could no longer support her. She also said she had experienced domestic abuse in the past. Therefore, it agreed to provide her with interim accommodation while it carried out further enquiries. Finally, it said it had failed to send a copy of her personalised housing plan despite agreeing to in July. It apologised and said it would send it to her within the next few days. It offered her £300 to reflect the distress and uncertainty its service caused. Miss X accepted the Council’s offer.
26. The Council completed a vulnerability assessment for Miss X in late November.

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Analysis

27. The Council has accepted it was at fault for its poor communication with Miss X. It has also accepted it was at fault for its delay in carrying out enquiries to determine whether it owed her the relief duty, its delay in sending her the personalised housing plan, its delay in considering her medical evidence and its delaying in awarding her the prevention duty. These faults caused Miss X distress, upset and frustration. I welcome the Council has acknowledged these faults, apologised and paid Miss X £300. This is in line with our guidance on remedies and I do not recommend anything further for this part of Miss X’s complaint.
28. Miss X says the Council should have provided her with interim accommodation before September 2024.The section 188 duty to arrange interim accommodation is triggered as soon as the authority has reason to believe that an applicant may be eligible, homeless and in priority need. This is a low threshold. It is an absolute duty, and the authority cannot postpone it due to a lack of available resources.
29. In its response to my enquiries, the Council said it decided to provide Miss X with interim accommodation in September because she disclosed historical domestic abuse. However, it was already aware of this in July from the medical documents Miss X’s advisor provided. It referred her medical documents to its medical advisor, and it agreed to complete a vulnerability assessment in July. It would not have done so if it did not have reason to believe Miss X was in priority need. It was also aware from early July she was no longer living at her friend’s house, and therefore it had reason to believe she was eligible and homeless. The Council therefore had a duty to provide Miss X with interim accommodation from July onwards. Its failure to do so caused Miss X a significant injustice as she had nowhere suitable to stay. She ended up sofa surfing and she spent several nights sleeping on public transport. I have made suitable recommendations to remedy this injustice.

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Agreed action

30. By 25 July 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused by its delay in offering her interim accommodation.
• Pay Miss X £700 to reflect the time when she had to sofa surf/sleep on public transport.

• Issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they are aware of the Council’s low threshold to provide interim accommodation if it has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need.

31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have competed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman