Summary: Miss X complains the Council has not dealt properly with her housing and homelessness causing avoidable distress. The Council made an unsuitable automatic offer, failed to provide suitable housing and did not pay for temporary accommodation. Miss X has been in emergency accommodation for too long. The Council should make a symbolic payment to Miss X and provide an action plan for service improvements.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complains the Council failed to deal with Miss X’s homelessness properly because:
• It made an unsuitable automatic offer of accommodation;
• It failed to provide suitable housing; and
• She had to leave hotel accommodation because it had not been paid for by the Council.
• It made offers of housing in areas where she is at risk due to domestic abuse;
2. Miss X says this caused her avoidable distress and she has been placed in hotel accommodation for too long.

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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. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
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(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated events prior to June 2024 as these are out of time and this would be a late complaint. In addition, a range of issues have already been considered by a previous Ombudsman investigation up until that time.

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How I considered this complaint

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

Law, guidance and policies

9. 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.
10. 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)
11. 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.  (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)

What happened?

12. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
13. In September 2023 Miss X had to leave her accommodation as a result of domestic abuse. The Council placed Miss X in interim accommodation in a hotel.
14. The following events occurred following a previous complaint to the Ombudsman by Miss X which considered up to August 2024 and found fault with the Council.
15. Between August 2024 and October 2024 the Council continued to provide accommodation to Miss X in a hotel under its s189 relief duty.
16. In October 2024, the Council accepted a duty to provide accommodation for Miss X under its main s193 duty.
17. The Council made offers of several properties to Miss X in November 2024. Miss X remained in hotel temporary accommodation as these offers were not suitable.
18. The Council offered Miss X another property in February 2025. In March 2025 it accepted this accommodation was not suitable as well.
19. Miss X made four complaints to the Council in April and May 2025 as follows:
• Complaint 1. That she had received an email to view a property that she had not bid for. The Council fully upheld Miss X’s complaint.
• Complaint 2. That the Council had failed to offer suitable accommodation and she had been in hotels since June 2024. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint.
• Complaint 3. That she had been asked to leave her hotel temporary accommodation because the Council had not paid for it. The Counmcil upheld Miss X’s complaint.
• Complaint 4. That she had been made an offer of a property within her defined risk areas relating to the domestic abuse she had suffered.
20. Miss X was offered alternative temporary accommodation in mid-December 2025. Miss X moved into this accommodation in February 2026.

Analysis

Complaint 1

21. The Council fully upheld Miss X’s complaint. It’s complaint response said Miss X’s, “experience of the rehousing services has fallen short of our expected standard. The Council should have communicated with you before adding your name to the bid and also should have ensured that the subsequent correspondence to you was factually correct and not stating that you had bid for this property, which you had not.”
22. The Council also accepted that, “..there has been a partial service failure in the handling of your case due to lack of timely communication.”
23. I agree this is fault by the Council. The Council apologised to Miss X in its complaint response. I consider this to be an appropriate remedy.

Complaint 2

24. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint. Its complaint response said, “I uphold your complaint as you remain in hotel accommodation since you fled your temporary home … and it has taken a long time to identify an alternative temporary home for your family.” I agree this is fault by the Council. Miss X and her family have been in temporary accommodation for an extended period of time. The Council apologised to Miss X in its complaint response. I do not consider this to be an appropriate remedy.

Complaint 3

25. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint. It acknowledged that she had had to stay with friends overnight and offered to reimburse expenses if Miss X provided receipts. I agree this is fault by the Council. The Council apologised to Miss X in its complaint response. I consider this to be an appropriate remedy.

Complaint 4

26. The previous Ombudsman complaint noted that, “The Council acknowledged it made Miss X an offer of unsuitable accommodation in 2024 as it was within an area of risk. It has offered Miss X a payment of £300 in recognition of its failure.” The offer was made outside of the timescales that were considered within that investigation.
27. The Council declined to consider Miss X’s complaint because the offer was being considered under a statutory suitability review. Miss X exercised her right to request a statutory suitability review. The Ombudsman will not investigate matters where the complainant had an alternative right of redress. I have therefore not considered this matter further.

Guidance on Remedies

28. Where a complainant has been deprived of suitable accommodation during what would inevitably have been a stressful period in their life, our recommendation for symbolic financial redress is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month. But we may recommend a higher monthly amount in cases where the injustice is exceptional or particularly severe. We assess each case on its merits and consider the impact the fault had on the complainant and other members of their household.
29. We have set out below the factors we take into account, but this is not an exhaustive list.
• The size of the accommodation – are there enough rooms for the household?
• The condition and state of repair of the accommodation.
• Are toilet and bathing facilities private or shared with other households?
• Are there adequate facilities to store, prepare and cook food?
• The age of the household members.
• Any disabilities or vulnerabilities of the household members.

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Action

30. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused by the fault I have identified, the Council should take the following action within 6 weeks of my final decision:
• Pay Miss X £3,600 in respect of being placed in unsuitable accommodation for a period of 12 months between June 2024 and June 2025, at a rate of £300 per month.
• Provide an action plan showing how the Council will provide appropriate temporary and emergency accommodation.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman