Summary: There is no evidence of fault by the Council. The Council emailed Miss X to tell her she did not need to move out of her Temporary Accommodation. Miss X says she did not receive this, but there is not enough evidence to reach a conclusion the email was not delivered.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains she was not informed of a decision that meant that she did not need to move from Temporary Accommodation.

2. Miss X has said that if she had known she did not need to move from the Temporary Accommodation she would not have done so and it has impacted her priority on the housing register.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I have investigated events from January 2025 onwards.
6. 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) Miss X’s complaints that she was moved to Temporary Accommodation away from her support network in 2019 are late. I have not exercised discretion to investigate events before January 2025 as Miss X could have made a complaint at the time. It is unlikely now, after 7 years, that there would be sufficient information to determine what happened.

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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

Key facts

9. Miss X was in Temporary Accommodation, she was placed there by the Council over 5 years ago.
10. The Council wrote to Miss X on 16 January 2025 with a new offer of temporary accommodation. Miss X has three options, she could:
• Accept the Temporary Accommodation.
• Accept the Temporary Accommodation but ask for a review of its suitability. If the accommodation was not suitable, another offer would be made.
• Refuse the Temporary Accommodation. If the Council considered the reasons for Miss X’s refusal and considered the accommodation was suitable, no further offers of accommodation would be made and the Council would discharge its duty to her. This would mean that Miss X had to move from her current accommodation.
11. Miss X emailed the Council on 17 January to say the accommodation was unsuitable as the 2 flights of stairs would have a detrimental effect on her physically and mentally. She explained that she mainly used the downstairs toilet and bedroom (the dining room) in her current property.
12. On 28 January 2025 the Council wrote to Miss X to say it had discharged its duty to her under the Housing Act 1996. The letter said that she needed to leave her temporary accommodation by 24 February 2025.
13. Miss X asked the Council for a review of the decision that the Temporary Accommodation was suitable on 2 February 2025. On 17 February Miss X emailed the Council to ask to remain in the Temporary Accommodation while the review was being carried out.
14. The Council emailed Miss X on 19 February 2025 to say that the officer could not consider the new offer of accommodation was suitable and it had been withdrawn. This meant that Miss X could stay in her current property.
15. Miss X says that she did not get this email as it was encrypted. The Council has said it was sent but there is no way to tell if Miss X opened it or not. The Council informed Miss X on 4 March 2025 by email that she did not have to move out of the Temporary Accommodation when it responded to her official complaint. However, Miss X moved out of the Temporary Accommodation on 4 March 2025. There is no evidence she contacted the Council to chase up its decision on the review after 17 February before moving out.
16. Miss X moved into a privately rented properly, where she has been living for over a year.

My analysis

17. There is not enough evidence to reach a decision on whether or not there was fault by the Council. The Council emailed Miss X to say that she did not need to move out. But there is no evidence either way, to say that she received the email or to say that she did not. I simply cannot reach a view on this point.
18. There is no reason to think the Council’s email would not have been delivered, Miss X received all the other emails. I also cannot see any evidence that Miss X telephoned or emailed the Council to chase up a response closer to the moving date than 17 February. There is also no evidence to confirm the exact date Miss X moved out, but she was able to find somewhere to live that she has remained at for over a year. So, I can find no fault by the Council on this complaint.

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Decision

19. I have completed my investigation and find no fault. This complaint is not upheld.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman