Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not provide her with enough support after she was evicted from her property. The Council was at fault for delaying accepting its relief duty and main housing duty to Mrs X. The Council was also at fault for giving Mrs X wrong information and not contacting her or taking substantive action on her case for around six months. This caused Mrs X uncertainty and distress. The Council was not at fault for its actions to find interim accommodation for Mrs X in a timely manner. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not provide her and her family with enough support after they were evicted from their privately rented property. Mrs X said this meant she spent 20 months trying to avoid homelessness and caused her uncertainty and distress. Mrs X said the family also did not have their possessions as they had to put them into storage. Mrs X wanted the Council to pay compensation for the alleged failures and distress caused.

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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).

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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. Mrs X did not complain to the Ombudsman until July 2025 about events from October 2023 onwards. I have decided to investigate events from the landlord serving a section 21 notice on Mrs X in March 2024. Mrs X could have complained to us sooner and I have seen no good reason to investigate events before March 2024.

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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 had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Law

Homelessness guidance and legislation

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 threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the council on or after 3 April 2018:

• they are likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• they have been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5).

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. 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. This is the prevention duty (Housing Act 1996, section 195).
12. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B).

Homelessness accommodation

13. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188).
14. 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.

15. 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).
16. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
17. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it.

Background

18. Mrs X made a homeless application to the Council in October 2023. She said her landlord was raising the rent and she could not afford the increased amount. The Council accepted a prevention duty to Mrs X on 23 November 2023. The Council completed a personal housing plan (PHP) with Mrs X the same day, which said it would refer her to suitable properties if available.
19. Around this time, the Council said it contacted the landlord to negotiate a more manageable rent, but this was unsuccessful. In December 2023, the Council asked the landlord to give it time to look at Mrs X’s finances. Following this, the Council told Mrs X it found the increased rent was not affordable and the property was too big for her family.

What happened

20. On 18 March 2024, Mrs X’s landlord served a section 21 notice on her saying Mrs X must leave the property by 19 May 2024. The Council said it told Mrs X in July 2024 to continue looking for suitable properties. There is no record of the Council having any other contact with Mrs X or taking substantive actions on her case between late March 2024 and September 2024. The Council had occasional contact with Mrs X between September 2024 and March 2025.
21. On 31 March 2025, Mrs X received an eviction notice from the Court. The next day, the Council received a copy of a warrant from the enforcement agency for the eviction.
22. Mrs X and her family were evicted from the property on 14 May 2025, and the Council placed them in emergency accommodation later that day. The Council told Mrs X its prevention duty towards her had ended and it now had a relief duty. The next day, the Council secured interim accommodation for Mrs X.
23. Mrs X’s son, Mr Y, complained to the Council, saying the Council did not help the family find accommodation after the landlord said they were increasing the rent. Mr Y also said the Council told Mrs X it could support her on the day of the eviction, but no-one was available to speak to her until near the end of the day. Mr Y alleged the officer then tried to delay providing support until the following day as they had nearly finished work. Mr Y said that after 6pm, another officer from a different team found the family a hotel room for the night.
24. The Council responded that due to an oversight, the officer who received the enforcement agent’s warrant did not tell the emergency accommodation team Mrs X needed support. The Council said on the day of the eviction, the officer told Mrs X to contact the out-of-hours team, instead of contacting the appropriate team directly. The Council upheld the complaint as it failed to arrange emergency accommodation in a timely manner and told Mrs X the wrong advice about contacting the out-of-hours team. The Council apologised and said it had reminded the officer of the correct process. The Council also apologised for failing to negotiate a more manageable rent increase with the landlord and for giving Mrs X wrong advice about waiting until the eviction to ask the Council for support.
25. Mr Y was unhappy with the response and escalated the complaint to stage two. The Council responded that it accepted it had no contact recorded with Mrs X between March 2024 and September 2024. The Council also said it should have recognised Mrs X as technically homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need on 10 December 2023. It accepted it should have offered Mrs X interim accommodation at this time. The Council said because it did not do so, Mrs X was in unsuitable accommodation between December 2023 and May 2025. The Council apologised to Mrs X and offered to pay her £1500 for the distress and anxiety caused by not securing interim accommodation in a timely manner. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman in July 2025.
26. In November 2025, the Council told Mrs X its relief duty had ended, and it now had a main housing duty. The Council said it was now providing Mrs X’s interim accommodation as temporary accommodation, as it was suitable for her family.

My findings

27. Councils must help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person.
28. The Council accepted Mrs X was threatened with homelessness and it had a prevention duty to her on 23 November 2023. The law says the Council should have tried to help Mrs X stay in her property or found her new accommodation within 56 days of accepting the duty. The Council failed to prevent Mrs X’s eviction and did not find suitable new accommodation within 56 days. At the end of the 56 days, the Council should have accepted a relief duty to Mrs X. It did not do so until nearly 16 months later, on 15 May 2025. The Council accepted it should have recognised Mrs X as technically homeless in December 2023. This was fault.
29. The Homelessness Code of Guidance at paragraphs 6.35 to 6.38 sets out when a person may be legally homeless after the expiry of a section 21 notice. It says “it is highly unlikely to be reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy” beyond the date of a possession order and that councils should ensure homeless families are not evicted. On balance, I am satisfied it was reasonable for Mrs X to continue occupying her property between December 2023 and the expiry of the section 21 notice on 19 May 2024. The Council’s failure to accept its relief duty to Mrs X caused her uncertainty between December 2023 and May 2024. The expiry of the section 21 notice resulted in Mrs X living in unsuitable accommodation between May 2024 and May 2025.
30. During this time, there is no record the Council communicated with Mrs X or took any substantive actions on her case for around six months between late March 2024 and September 2024. The Council also only had occasional contact with Mrs X between September 2024 and March 2025 and there is no record it took any substantive actions during this time. This was fault. It caused Mrs X uncertainty as the Council did not update her on what actions, if any, it had taken.
31. The Council accepted it received the bailiff’s warrant for Mrs X’s eviction on 1 April 2025 but did not pass this on to the appropriate team. This was fault. It meant the Council did not have suitable support or emergency accommodation in place for Mrs X before the day of eviction, causing Mrs X uncertainty over what would happen next.
32. Mrs X was evicted from her property on 14 May 2025, and the Council accepted it had a relief duty to her the next day. The law says the Council should have tried to find Mrs X new accommodation within 56 days of it accepting this duty. The Council secured interim accommodation for Mrs X on 15 May 2025. The Council was not at fault.
33. The law says the Council should have ended its relief duty to Mrs X after 56 days and owed her a main housing duty. The Council accepted it owed her a relief duty from 10 December 2023. Had the Council acted without fault, it should have recognised its main housing duty to Mrs X by 5 February 2024 at the latest but did not do so until 5 November 2025. This is a delay of 21 months. This was fault. It caused Mrs X uncertainty about her living situation and the date her housing priority was effective from. As Mrs X’s interim accommodation became her temporary accommodation it did not impact where she lived.

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Action

34. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Mrs X for the uncertainty caused by it failing to prevent her homelessness and the further uncertainty caused by it delaying accepting its relief and main housing duties. It should also apologise to Mrs X for the further uncertainty caused by the Council not contacting her between March 2024 and September 2024 and for only occasionally contacting her between September 2024 and March 2025. 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 £1800 to recognise the impact of her and her family living in unsuitable accommodation between May 2024 and May 2025. This is £150 for every month Mrs X and her family lived in unsuitable accommodation and is in line with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies.
3. Pay Mrs X £200 for the uncertainty caused by the Council not contacting her between March 2024 and September 2024 and only occasionally contacting her between September 2024 and March 2025.
35. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
36. Following our recent investigation into the Council’s handling of a separate homelessness case, the Council has explained the steps it is taking to resolve the issues with its homelessness service. Because the Council is already taking suitable steps, I have not made any service improvement recommendations. We will continue to monitor the Council’s progress through our casework.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman