Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not offer her interim accommodation or temporary accommodation for 11 months following her homelessness application. Mrs X also complained the Council did not respond to her complaint. The Council failed to contact Mrs X or take any actions on her case for nine months. This caused distress and uncertainty. The Council also delayed responding to Mrs X’s stage one complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not offer her accommodation until February 2025, after it had accepted its main housing duty 11 months earlier. Mrs X complained the Council only offered her the temporary accommodation once she complained. Mrs X also said the Council did not investigate her stage one complaint and took more than five months to respond to her. Mrs X would like the Council to apologise and explain its actions.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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).
3. 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).

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

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. The Council accepted its homelessness duty to Mrs X in November 2023. Mrs X complained to the Council about delays finding temporary accommodation in January 2025 and to the Ombudsman in June 2025. Part of Mrs X’s complaint is late. Mrs X could have complained to us sooner about the delays. I have decided to investigate events between June 2024 and June 2025.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

What I found

The Law

Homelessness

8. 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.
9. 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).
10. 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. In deciding what steps to take, a council must have regard to its assessment of the applicant’s case. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
11. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B).

The Council’s complaints policy

12. The Council’s complaints policy states that it aims to respond to stage one complaints within 15 working days of the date it receives the complaint. The policy says the Council will respond to stage two complaints within 25 working days of the date it receives the complaint.

Background

13. Mrs X made a homelessness application to the Council in October 2023. She said her current property was uninhabitable. The Council accepted a relief duty to Mrs X in November 2023. It subsequently offered Mrs X temporary accommodation which she refused. She said it was too far from the hospital and her son’s health needs meant she needed to be closer.
14. Mrs X remained in her current property, and the Council accepted a main housing duty to Mrs X in March 2024. In May 2024 Mrs X refused another offer of accommodation from the Council. She said the property had damp which would impact her child’s health. Mrs X remained in her accommodation, and the Council maintained its homelessness duty to Mrs X.

What happened

15. The Council told the Ombudsman it had no record of it contacting Mrs X or taking any actions on her case between June 2024 and January 2025.
16. Mrs X said she complained to the Council on 9 January 2025 and 3 February 2025 about the Council not contacting her and not offering her suitable temporary accommodation.
17. The Council reassessed Mrs X in February 2025 after she provided new medical information. The Council said it had kept her in the homeless queue and agreed with recommendations made by the Council’s medical advisor. The Council then offered Mrs X a property, which she accepted and moved into in March 2025.
18. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint in mid-March 2025, saying it did not uphold her complaint as it had offered her temporary accommodation. Mrs X was unhappy with the response and escalated the complaint to stage two. The Council responded on 12 May 2025. It said it recognised the first accommodation it offered Mrs X was not ideal for her family’s needs, but it had offered her other properties based on its available housing. The Council apologised for the distress and uncertainty caused by its delays in securing suitable accommodation for Mrs X.
19. The Council agreed with Mrs X that its stage one response was not as thorough as it should have been. The Council apologised and said it would provide training and guidance to make sure it fully investigates and responds to future stage one complaints. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman in early June 2025.

My findings

20. The Council accepted a main housing duty to Mrs X in March 2024 and maintained that duty until Mrs X accepted its offer of accommodation in March 2025. In accepting the main housing duty, the Council accepted Mrs X’s current property was unsuitable. The Council did not contact Mrs X or take any substantive actions on her case, including making accommodation offers, for around nine months, between June 2024 and January 2025. This was fault. While this left Mrs X in unsuitable accommodation, on balance, I cannot say when Mrs X would have left the accommodation had the Council acted during this time. Mrs X had already turned down two offers of accommodation by the Council. The delay caused Mrs X a period of distress and uncertainty for which I have recommended a remedy.
21. Mrs X said the Council took five months to respond to her complaint. Mrs X said she first made a stage one complaint to the Council on 9 January 2025. The Council issued its stage one response on 19 March 2025. The Council’s complaints policy says it will respond to stage one complaints within 15 working days. The stage one response was almost 50 working days after Mrs X’s complaint. This was fault. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two on 20 March 2025. The Council responded on 12 May 2025. This was 35 working days after Mrs X’s escalation, a delay of 10 working days. This was fault. The delays in the Council’s complaint handling caused Mrs X frustration and uncertainty.
22. The Council offered Mrs X suitable accommodation around the same time as the complaints process was on-going. There is no evidence the Council’s delay in responding at stage one impacted the Council’s efforts to secure Mrs X temporary accommodation.

Back to top

Action

23. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Mrs X for the distress and uncertainty caused by the Council not contacting her or taking any action on her case for around nine months between June 2024 and January 2025. It should also apologise for the delay in responding to Mrs X’s complaints. 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.
2. Pay Mrs X £500 for the distress and uncertainty caused by the Council taking no action on Mrs X’s homelessness case between June 2024 and January 2025.
24. Within three months of the final decision, the Council has agreed to put measures in place to monitor and act on homelessness cases where it has a duty to provide temporary accommodation and has yet to do so.
25. The Council has agreed to provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Back to top

Decision

26. I find fault causing injustice, which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman