Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to support him in securing private rented accommodation when he was homeless. The Council was at fault. It failed to keep his Personal Housing Plan (PHP) under review and failed to communicate effectively with him causing Mr X avoidable frustration. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and review his PHP.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to support him in finding and securing private rented accommodation after he became homeless and failed to communicate with him effectively.
2. Mr X said, the lack of support meant he missed opportunities to secure accommodation and has remained homeless for longer than necessary.
3. He wants the Council to provide additional training to its officers to ensure homelessness applications are managed to a higher standard.

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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. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

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 someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to obtain accommodation and gives ‘reason to believe’ they ‘may be’ homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to make inquiries into what, if any, further duty it owes them. The threshold for triggering the duty to make inquiries is low.
10. 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. 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)

Priority need

11. Examples of applicants in priority need are:

• people with dependent children;
• pregnant women;
• people who are vulnerable due to serious health problems, disability or old age;
• care leavers; and
• victims of domestic abuse.

Assessments and Personal Housing Plans (PHP)

13. If someone is homeless but do not have a priority need then 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)
14. After carrying out an assessment the council must prepare a PHP for the applicant. The PHP sets out the steps both the authority and the applicant will take to try to prevent or relieve the applicant’s homelessness. The council must keep the PHP under review. As a minimum it should be reviewed with every change in duty. (I.e. when prevention ends and relief starts, when relief ends and main duty is owed).

Duty to provide Advisory Services

Councils must provide to anyone in their district information and advice free of charge on:

• preventing homelessness;
• securing accommodation when homeless;
• the rights of people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness;
• the duties of the authority;
• any help that is available from the authority or anyone else, for people in the council’s district who are homeless or may become homeless (whether or not they are threatened with homelessness); and
• how to access that help.

Discretionary Housing Payments

15. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be awarded to people receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit when the council decides they need extra financial help. These payments may cover rent shortfalls, deposits, or similar housing costs, but whether to grant them is entirely at the council’s discretion.

Rent and deposit scheme

16. The council can provide support to help secure a suitable, affordable home, including financial assistance for deposits, advance rent, relocation, and removal costs when a private rental property meeting the applicant’s needs is identified. Support may still be available even if rent exceeds the Local Housing Allowance, offering flexibility and a fresh start. Assistance includes locating properties, negotiating rent, reviewing tenancy agreements, and ensuring the property meets safety requirements. Eligibility is based on being at risk of homelessness, residing in the local borough, actively seeking private rental accommodation, having a low income or receiving benefits, and requiring help with upfront costs.

Unreasonable or Unreasonably Persistent Complainants Policy

17. The Council’s policy allows it to manage situations where a complainant’s behaviour or frequency of contact disrupts its ability to handle complaints effectively. This includes excessive, demanding, emotional, or abusive communication. In such cases, the Council may impose restrictions — for example, limiting contact to a single point or reducing communication frequency. However, before any restrictions are applied, the Council must first issue a formal warning and then send a written notice explaining the restrictions and the reasons for them.

What happened

18. Mr X was evicted from his accommodation in November 2023 due to rent arrears and has been homeless ever since.
19. Mr X applied to the Council as homeless in 2023. The Council accepted a relief duty and issued him with a Personal Housing Plan but decided he had no priority need. His appeal of this decision on medical grounds was unsuccessful.
20. In May 2024, a neighbouring council, Council B accepted a relief duty following Mr X’s homeless application and provided him with interim temporary accommodation until August 2024 when Council B referred Mr X’s homelessness case back to the Council.
21. The Council informed Mr X that it would not reconsider its earlier decision from 2023 that he had no priority need unless he provided new information to support his application. The Council referred him to a single-person homeless project. Mr X declined this option, stating his mental health prevented him from living in shared accommodation. The Council requested supporting medical evidence to reassess his case.
22. At this stage, Mr X continued to rely on the PHP issued by the Council in March 2023. There is no evidence the Council reviewed or updated the plan in 2024 to provide Mr X with current information or support in finding accommodation.
23. In August and September Mr X shared details of private rented accommodation with the Council asking for rent and deposit support to secure these properties. During this time, the Council reminded Mr X to submit the requested medical evidence. It did not however consider his rent and deposit request or provide any other support or assistance in securing accommodation.
24. Mr X provided medical evidence in January 2025 and also applied for discretionary housing payments (DHP).
25. In February, Mr X complained he had shared several property details with the Council seeking financial support but received no responses or call-backs.
26. That same month, the Council declined Mr X’s DHP application, as he was not in receipt of Universal Credit or housing benefit – one of which is required to qualify for DHP.
27. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint, stating it had repeatedly requested the outstanding medical evidence and would take no further action on his application unless this was provided. It said without this it would close his case. The response also referred to Mr X’s use of abusive language towards Council staff when he called them.
28. Mr X escalated the complaint, expressing dissatisfaction with how his homelessness application had been handled and that officers had not responded to his communications.
29. In early March, the Council informed Mr X by email it had considered his medical evidence but decided it did not result in a change of Mr X’s circumstances for him to be awarded priority need.
30. In its stage 2 complaint response, the Council made no reference of the medical assessment outcome. Instead, it concluded that staff did not respond to Mr X’s phone calls and other communications due to his abusive behaviour, and it closed his application.
31. Mr X then complained to us.

My findings

32. When Mr X first presented to the Council as homeless in 2023, the Council made the required enquiries and issued him with a PHP. The Council has a continuing duty to keep such plans under regular review. However, when Mr X reapplied as homeless in August 2024, there is no evidence the Council reviewed or reissued his PHP. This was a missed opportunity to do so and was fault.
33. The Council told Mr X it would only review its 2023 decision if he provided new information. Mr X did not do so for another four months. In the meantime, he sent the Council details of private rented accommodation and asked for rent and deposit assistance. The Council’s communication was poor and there is no documented evidence showing the Council responded to Mr X when he shared details of potential private rented accommodation. The failure to adequately communicate or consider Mr X’s request for rent and deposit assistance was fault.
34. The Council’s complaint responses did not address these concerns. Instead, it focused on Mr X’s failure to supply medical evidence and cited his behaviour as a reason for its limited communication. While the Council may have concerns with Mr X’s behaviour we would expect this to be dealt with under its ‘Unreasonable or Unreasonably Persistent Complainants Policy’ rather than not responding. The failure to properly respond to Mr X’s complaint and its general communication with him was fault which caused him frustration and uncertainty.

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Actions

35. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Mr X in recognition of the frustration and uncertainty caused by the Council’s failure to keep his PHP under review, consider his requests for rent and deposit assistance and its poor communication and complaint handling. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended.
2. Review and update Mr X’s PHP setting out the steps both the Council and Mr X will take to try to relieve his homelessness. The review should include consideration of whether to provide rent and deposit assistance when Mr X finds appropriate private rented accommodation.
36. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

37. I have found fault causing injustice. The Council agreed to take actions to remedy the injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman