Summary: Miss X complained the Council placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation and then failed to move her to a suitable alternative accommodation after it found the temporary accommodation was unsuitable. There were faults by the Council which caused injustice to Miss X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
1. placed her and her child in unsuitable temporary accommodation in January 2024
2. failed to move her and her child to suitable alternative accommodation after the Council issued its review decision in March 2024 where it found the temporary accommodation was unsuitable.
2. Miss X said as a result she lived in unsuitable accommodation for a long period. Miss X said the matter affected her mental health, caused her financial strain and loss due to travel costs, she lost her job and the time and trouble chasing the Council and complaining.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. Miss X made a complaint to the Ombudsman in May 2025, therefore this investigation should start from May 2024 (12 months before she complained to the Ombudsman).
7. However, I have exercised discretion to investigate matters from when Miss X moved to her temporary accommodation in January 2024 to when she made a complaint to the Ombudsman in May 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. 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

Homelessness

10. 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)
11. The Main Housing 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 (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). The accommodation a council provides until it can end the main housing duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193).
12. Housing Needs Assessment is completed to identify what type of housing someone needs. For example, the size, how many bedrooms, tenure, level of support and adaptations required by the person and their household.
13. Suitability Assessment is completed to determine whether a specific available property meets identified needs of someone and members of their household. This includes the property location, affordability, safety and accessibility for disabilities.
14. 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)
15. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206). Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability (Housing Act 1996, section 202). If the Council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the Council must provide suitable accommodation. If the review decides the accommodation is suitable, the applicant has the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)
16. Priority need - 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.

17. Councils must put all its key decisions in writing. If it is an adverse decision, the letter must fully explain the reasons. All letters must include information about the right to ask for a review and the timescale for doing so. (Housing Act 1996, section 184, Homelessness Code of Guidance 18.30)

Housing register

18. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
19. The Council has three housing bands in which it places applicants in line with its Housing Allocation Scheme. These are Band A (emergencies and strategic priorities), Band B (high priority) and Band C (medium priority).

The Council’s Housing Placements Policy

20. The Council is committed to securing suitable temporary accommodation (TA) for homeless households where this is required under section 188 or section 193 of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996.
21. All placements are subject to a suitability assessment to determine the type and location of TA that should be offered.
22. The Council’s TA placements prioritisation includes:
1. Group A: TAs are provided in the Council’s borough:

• to households that have one child (or more) who has a Statement of Special Educational Needs who are receiving education or educational support at a local school in the Council’s borough and where a change to another school or learning establishment would be detrimental to their continuing development.
• to households with significant disabilities or medical needs, including mental health, where their health or welfare may be significantly adversely affected by moving out of the borough, as assessed by the Council’s Housing Medical Adviser.
2. Group B: TA within the Local Area – the local area will include the Council’s borough and adjacent boroughs to the Council’s area or within approximately 30 minutes travelling time on public transport from any of the Council’s boundary. These TAs are provided to households where one person (or more) is in permanent and settled employment (for at least six months prior to date of homelessness application).
3. Group C: TAs in Any Area: all other homeless households will be offered TA wherever the borough is able to procure it, including outside of London.

23. Statement of Special Educational Needs - is a legal document which sets out a child’s educational needs and the extra support/provision the local authority must provide the child with.

Key events

2024

24. Miss X was homeless, and she was also on the Council’s housing register for a two-bedroom property under Band B.
25. In January, Miss X and her child moved to an out-of-borough temporary accommodation (TA) which the Council offered after it accepted it owed Miss X the main housing duty.
26. Miss X said the TA was unsuitable because the travel time to her work and her child’s school was 1 hour and 40 minutes. Miss X had worked in the Council borough for a few years, and she said the Council failed to place her in TA within 30 minutes from its borough in line with its housing placements policy. Miss X submitted a suitability review request to the Council the same month.
27. In March, an independent reviewer considered Miss X’s suitability review as it related to the TA location based on the fact Miss X had been in full time employment within the borough for a few years and the possibility that her child had Statement of Special Educational Needs. The review outcome letter stated the reviewer was not satisfied the Council had carried out a full suitability assessment of the TA and there was no evidence to determine whether the TA was suitable to meet the needs of Miss X’s household. Miss X’s suitability review was upheld and the Council said it would provide Miss X with suitable alternative accommodation.
28. In mid-April, the Council placed Miss X on its ‘Transfer List’ after its suitability review decision.
29. In September, the Council completed a housing need assessment (HNA) for Miss X to identify her housing need. It found Miss X was still in employment within the Council borough, but no Statement of Special Educational Needs was identified for Miss X’s child. The HNA outcome was that Miss X fell under Group B of the Council’s Housing Placements Policy.
30. Miss X and her child remained in the TA. The Council made no further contact with Miss X about her housing situation.

2025

31. In January, Miss X said her child broke her leg. Miss X said she had to care for her child because she had no support system in the TA area. Miss X said her child was unable to attend school and she was unable to go to work due to the change in circumstances in addition to the distance issue and travel costs. Miss X said they both stayed home for three months.
32. In March, Miss X made a formal complaint to the Council about how it placed her in unsuitable TA and its delays and failure to provide her with suitable alternative accommodation after its suitability review decision in March 2024.
33. In April, the Council contacted Miss X to explore alternative accommodation in the private rented sector. It also advised Miss X to continue bidding for two-bedroom properties under Band B to improve her chances for being rehoused.
34. In its responses to Miss X’s complaint, the Council:

• said it found and had accepted the TA it offered to Miss X in January 2024 was unsuitable after the suitability review outcome.
• confirmed Miss X was on its ‘Transfer List’ and it assured her the Council was taking steps to find her suitable accommodation to meet her household needs. But the Council said due to a shortage of accommodation in its borough, it was unable to give a timeframe when Miss X would be rehoused.
• said an HNA had been completed for Miss X and that it would contact Miss X with updates soon.
• did not uphold Miss X’s complaint.

35. Miss X remained dissatisfied, and she made a complaint to the Ombudsman.
36. Subsequently, the Council made a direct offer of permanent accommodation to Miss X which she had moved to.
37. In its response to our enquiries, the Council said:

• it completed an HNA for Miss X before it offered her the TA in January 2024, but it said it was unable to locate the completed HNA which the Council accepted was fault.
• the HNA it completed in September 2024 confirmed Miss X’s child had no Statement of Special Educational Needs. So, Miss X had been correctly placed under Group B of its Housing Placements Policy due to her employment status and that its TA offer to Miss X in January 2024 was consistent with its policy. The Council said it did not believe Miss X suffered loss or detriment due to living in unsuitable TA.
• it ended the main duty it owed to Miss X when it offered her permanent accommodation in October 2025.

38. The Council maintained it was of the view that Miss X did not suffer because she was located at the TA as she was placed in the TA (an adjacent borough to the Council’s area) in line with its placement policy. But the Council accepted it was at fault for its delays to move Miss X immediately to alternative accommodation after the suitability review in March 2024. It also accepted it was an essential requirement for the Council to complete HNAs prior to allocating accommodation to applicants.
39. The Council later confirmed to the Ombudsman that it had launched a service transformation programme to address the fundamental demand and supply aspects of homelessness within its area. The Council also said it was in the process of reviewing its Housing Placement Policy and its Housing Needs Assessment.

Analysis

40. Where a council accepts the main housing duty, it must secure and provide suitable accommodation for the applicant and their household. In this case, there was no evidence the Council completed a suitability assessment of the TA it offered and moved Miss X into in January 2024. This was fault. The Council also accepted it was unable to locate and provide the HNA it completed for Miss X before its January 2024 TA offer. This was also fault. These faults caused Miss X distress, and the uncertainty as to whether the Council properly considered if the TA was suitable to meet her household needs. The Council’s faults also caused Miss X inconvenience of requesting a suitability review request of the TA.
41. I find had the Council completed a suitability assessment and followed its housing placements policy, it would have identified Miss X fell under Group B based on her status and length of her employment at the time.
42. After Miss X submitted a suitability review request, the Council in March 2024 found the TA was unsuitable to meet Miss X and her child’s needs. This was fault. This meant Miss X had lived in unsuitable TA from March 2024 to May 2025 (date of the suitability review decision to when she complained to the Ombudsman).
43. Once a council accepts TA is unsuitable to meet the needs of the applicant and/or their household, it has a legal duty to provide the applicant with suitable accommodation immediately. This is an absolute, immediate and non-deferrable duty (Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601).
44. After the Council found Miss X’s TA was unsuitable in March 2024, it agreed to provide her with suitable alternative accommodation, and it then placed Miss X on its ‘Transfer List’ in mid-April 2024. Although the Council placed Miss X on a ‘Transfer List’ pending when a suitable property became available, however, this does not meet our expectations for how a council should demonstrate its efforts to meet its duty.
45. I note the Council said its inability to secure alternative suitable TA for Miss X was due to shortage of accommodation in its borough. While the Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas, but in such instances, we expect to see evidence of councils making efforts to fulfil their duties.
46. In this case, I find the Council failed to take reasonable steps to move Miss X to suitable accommodation after she was placed on the ‘Transfer List’ in April 2024. The next significant action the Council took was not until September 2024 when the Council completed an HNA for Miss X to identify her housing need. And then in April 2025 when the Council explored housing within the private rented sector with Miss X. The Council’s failure to take reasonable steps to resolve Miss X’s housing situation and offer her suitable alternative accommodation was fault.
47. The Council failed to discharge its legal duty to provide Miss X with suitable TA and then failed to immediately provide Miss X with suitable alternative accommodation after it accepted her TA was unsuitable in March 2024 and as at the time Miss X complained to the Ombudsman. This was over a significant period (March 2024 – May 2025) and it was fault. It caused distress, worry, inconvenience to Miss X. It also caused her uncertainty as to whether the Council properly dealt with her housing case and the uncertainty as to whether she could have been rehoused sooner.
48. I note the Council confirmed it has put in place some service improvements and has launched a service transformation programme to address the fundamental shortage of accommodation within its borough. These are welcome.
49. Furthermore, the Council failed to keep Miss X updated on her housing case for approximately 5 months. This period was from April 2024 after the Council placed her on the ‘Transfer List’ to September 2024 when it completed an HNA for her. This was fault. And there was a further 4-month period where the Council did not contact Miss X about her housing case from September 2024 until January 2025 when Miss X contacted it about her child’s restricted mobility. This was fault.
50. The Council’s lack of communication with Miss X over significant periods were faults. It caused Miss X distress, worry and uncertainty as to how her housing case was progressing.
51. While I note, the Council subsequently offered Miss X suitable alternative accommodation which she has since moved to, I find this is not sufficient and proportionate to remedy the injustice caused to Miss X (as set out above). This will be addressed in the ‘action’ section below in line with our guidance on remedies.
52. We have recently made service improvement recommendations in other decisions about the Council reminding relevant staff about its duty to complete suitability review before offering temporary accommodation to applicants and to complete suitability reviews when the applicants raise concerns about the suitability of such accommodation. Service improvement recommendation was also made for the Council to improve the available supply of temporary accommodation. We are continuing to monitor the actions the Council takes to ensure compliance with those and similar recommendations. For this reason, I have not made similar service improvement recommendations in this case.

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Action

53. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following actions within one month of the final decision:

• apologise in writing to Miss X to acknowledge the injustice caused to her by the Council’s identified faults as set out above. The apology should be in accordance with our guidance, Making an effective apology
• pay Miss X £150 for each month she lived in unsuitable temporary accommodation from March 2024 to May 2025 (date of the suitability review decision to when she complained to the Ombudsman). This is a total of £2,250 to cover the 15-month period
• make Miss X a symbolic payment of £100 to acknowledge the injustice caused to her by the Council’s poor communication with her
• provide guidance to the relevant housing staff to ensure they communicate and update applicants about the progress of their housing cases in a timely manner.

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

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Decision

55. I find faults by the Council causing injustice to Miss X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman