Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the temporary accommodation provided to Ms X when she became homeless due to domestic abuse because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council placed her in accommodation too close to the perpetrator after she became homeless due to domestic abuse. She also complained the accommodation provided was not fit for human habitation as it was dilapidated and affected by an insect infestation. She said living there made her ill and caused her mental trauma.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X contacted the Council after becoming homeless due to domestic abuse. She said she needed to stay in the Council’s area until June because her child was taking exams, following which she would move away. The Council said it had no record that Ms X told it any specific parts of its area were unsafe for her. In its complaint response, the Council said her safety was its priority, but it had balanced this with the need for her to stay in its area until so its child could sit exams at their current school.
6. The Council arranged interim accommodation in early May 2024. When she was due to move in, the Council identified a problem with the gas meter, which it was not able to resolve on the day because it was reliant on another organisation. The Council said it offered a choice of bed and breakfast establishments, and Ms X chose one that she moved to for the bank holiday weekend. In her complaint Ms X said this was too close to where the perpetrator lived and worked so she did not feel safe there.
7. Ms X also complained about the standard of the property offered to her, which became temporary accommodation when the Council accepted a main housing duty in June 2024. In its complaint response, the Council explained the property had been inspected and appropriate work carried out before it was offered to her. It has provided photos to show it met the Council’s letting standard. It has also provided evidence that it carried out repair work when Ms X reported disrepair.
8. Ms X complained about an insect infestation. She provided photos to the Council showing some insects in the property and insect bites she had suffered. The Council said the photos did not evidence an insect infestation and that some insects could have been brought into the property, for example on clothing.
9. Ms X left the property in late June 2024.

My assessment

10. Although Ms X indicated she did not feel safe in its area, she wanted to stay there for a short time so her child could take exams at their current school. There is no indication that she told the Council about any specific parts of its area that should be avoided when arranging interim or temporary accommodation.
11. Ms X was not able to move into the interim accommodation identified on the day expected, but this was not due to Council fault, and there is no indication Ms X told it at the time that the bed and breakfast establishment arranged as an alternative was not suitable because she would not be safe there.
12. We will not consider this part of the complaint further because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
13. Ms X also complained the interim/temporary accommodation was not fit for human habitation. The Council addressed each of the concerns Ms X raised about the property in its complaint response. Those concerns do not evidence the property was unsuitable and photography of the property at the time it was let to Ms X do not indicate disrepair.
14. There is a dispute about whether the insects Ms X reported amounted to an infestation, but the Council reviewed the images Ms X provided and records of inspections before she moved in, as well as when she was living there, before concluding there was not evidence of an infestation.
15. On balance, there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to justify further investigation.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman