Summary: Ms X complained the Council has delayed moving her to alternative suitable temporary accommodation. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in moving Ms X to alternative suitable temporary accommodation. This means Ms X has been deprived of living in suitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X and make a payment to her.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council has delayed moving her to alternative suitable temporary accommodation. She says the matter has caused distress and upset.

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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. 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)
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. Ms X refers to matters from October 2023 onwards. However, she did not refer her complaint to us until July 2025. There are no good reasons Ms X did not bring her earlier concerns to us sooner. Therefore, I have restricted my investigation to look at events from July 2024. However, I will refer to matters before July 2024 for contextual purposes.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

Temporary accommodation

8. 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)
9. 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)

What happened

10. Ms X is homeless. The Council accepted the main housing duty for Ms X in August 2022. It provided her with temporary accommodation in a hostel.
11. Ms X contacted the Council and said the temporary accommodation was unsuitable. She said there was disrepair in the property, including pest infestations, mould and broken appliances.
12. The Council wrote to Ms X in October 2023. It decided her temporary accommodation was unsuitable. It said it would contact her and provide an alternative offer of suitable accommodation.
13. An officer from an external contractor contacted the Council in early April 2025. She said Ms X was no longer living at the property due to safety concerns. Ms X was temporarily living with her friend.
14. A local councillor contacted the Council a couple of weeks later. She said Ms X had a burglary at the property in mid-March. She had not returned because she did not feel safe.
15. Ms X complained to the Council in mid-May about its failure to provide her with suitable accommodation. The Council responded and said its temporary accommodation move-on officer had contacted Ms X to discuss her housing options, including social housing and private housing.
16. The Council phoned Ms X in late May. Ms X said she was not living at the property because of disrepair issues.
17. Ms X referred her complaint to stage two in early June. She said it was unacceptable it had not taken timely action to move her and her family.
18. The Council emailed Ms X in late June. It asked her to confirm the date she moved out of the property. Ms X said she had not moved out. However, she left temporarily due to feeling unsafe from the burglary. She sent a further email and said she would return to the property once it was safe.
19. The Council issued its final response to Ms X’s complaint in July. It said it placed Ms X on the transfer list after it decided her temporary accommodation was unsuitable. However, its investigations showed Ms X was not living in the property, and she had not lived there for a long time. It received a report in March 2025 that stated Ms X had removed her belongings from the property. It said it could not rehouse Ms X because she was not living at the property.
20. The Council sent a letter to Ms X in September and said it proposed ending the main housing duty as Ms X had voluntarily ceased occupying the temporary accommodation. It said the temporary accommodation was suitable and it was reasonable for Ms X to occupy.
21. Ms X’s representative responded and said the Council had failed to provide Ms X with suitable temporary accommodation. It was therefore discharging a duty it had not performed.
22. The Council withdrew its notice to end the main housing duty because it had not provided suitable temporary accommodation. It said it would reopen the case and find suitable alternative temporary accommodation.

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Analysis

23. The Council has a duty to provide homeless households with suitable temporary accommodation. The Council decided Ms X’s accommodation was unsuitable in October 2023. While it placed her on the transfer list, it has not provided her with alternative suitable temporary accommodation. This is fault.
24. It appears Ms X stopped living in the temporary accommodation around March 2025, and she has been living with friends and family. She said this was because the unsuitability of the temporary accommodation and she was not safe living there because of the burglary. However, the Council has accepted it still has an ongoing duty to find Ms X suitable alternative temporary accommodation. That it still has not done so is fault.
25. The Council’s fault has caused Ms X a significant injustice as she has been deprived of living in suitable accommodation. We make suitable personal recommendations to remedy this injustice.
26. I have not made any service improvement recommendations as we have investigated several complaints against the Council about similar issues and we have made suitable recommendations.

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Action

27. By 23 April 2026 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Ms X for the injustice caused by fault in this statement.
• Pay Ms X £3,150 to reflect that she has been deprived of living in suitable temporary accommodation from July 2024 to the end of March 2026.
• Continue to pay Ms X £150 per month until it provides her with alternative suitable temporary accommodation, or she refuses an offer of a suitable property. The remedy is payable for up to six months after the date of the final decision.

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

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Decision

29. There was fault by the Council, which caused Ms X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman