Summary: Miss D says the Council has failed to provide suitable temporary accommodation which meets the needs of her disabled child. I have found fault by the Council because it delayed by over 12 months adding Miss D to its housing transfer list. Miss D’s child is unable to have an electric wheelchair because of their unsuitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to make Miss D a direct offer of housing and to pay redress for the time spent in unsuitable accommodation.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Miss D) says the Council has failed to move her family from unsuitable temporary accommodation. Miss D says this has significantly impacted on the wellbeing of her disabled child who requires an electric wheelchair and cannot have one in their current home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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. Miss D refers to being in unsuitable temporary accommodation for ‘several years’, I have considered what happened for the year prior to the formal complaint to the Council. My investigation runs from March 2024 through to June 2025 when the Council issued its final complaint response. If Miss D is dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of her case after June 2025 she can make a new complaint to the Council.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss D/ her Representative and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.

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What I found

What happened

Background

7. In October 2018 Miss D and her child were placed into temporary accommodation provided by the Council.

Events I have investigated

2024

8. On 7 March 2024 the Council’s Medical Adviser considered Miss D’s case as part of an assessment on whether her accommodation was suitable. They noted the family needed a property without internal or external stairs. In addition the property should have widened doorways to accommodate wheelchair access for Miss D’s child. If it was above the ground floor two lifts were essential. The home should also have a bath. The family had Band 2 housing priority.
9. On 15 April Miss D called the Council because she had been informed about the Medical Adviser recommendations, she was told a suitability assessment would be carried out by the Council. On 25 April the Council completed a suitability assessment. It noted Miss D’s current property was not suitable for an electric wheelchair which her disabled child had been assessed for. The Council said Miss D’s current home had internal and external stairs and the doorframes would not accommodate a wheelchair. It concluded the property was unsuitable. The Council did not send Miss D a written decision about the assessment, an Officer called her on 25 April to explain the outcome.
10. At the end of July Miss D told the Council she had had another child and asked the Council to update its records. On 2 December a Tenancy Management Officer emailed the Temporary Accommodation Assessments and Lettings Team (TA Team) asking it to consider moving Miss D because her current temporary accommodation was unsuitable.
11. On 10 December Miss D emailed the Council, she was in a two bedroom home. She had two children (a boy and a girl) and the property was not suitable for their needs. The older child needed a motorised wheelchair which they could have not have in the current accommodation. Miss D had been entitled to a two bedroom property when it was her plus one child, now she had two children she was requesting an additional bed space. The same day the Council asked the TA Team to look at the case. Miss D was in a medically unsuitable property, and medical recommendations had previously been made. They asked the TA Team to ‘urgently find alternative suitable accommodation’.
12. On 30 December Miss D called the Council, she wanted to be able to bid for three bedroom homes. Her eldest child was turning 10 and could not share with their sibling due to medical need. The Council transferred Miss D to the TA Team to advise if she needed a new medical assessment about the request for an additional bed space. On 31 December the Council noted Miss D had a young child and medical reasons for needing separate bedrooms for the children. It recorded the ‘bidding account for bed needs must be updated to three bedrooms to reflect this’. The Council has confirmed to me that no assessment was made for an additional bedroom.

2025

13. On 14 January 2025 Customer Services notified the Council that Miss D had been in touch about the bedroom entitlement for her family. On 16 January Miss D emailed the Council and reiterated why her older child needed their own bedroom due to medical needs. On 17 January the Council replied and advised Miss D to contact the TA Team which dealt with queries from homeless applicants.
14. On 14 February Miss D called the Council about her need to move. On 11 March Miss D’s Representative emailed the Council asking it move the family urgently. The Council noted it would check if the family were on the temporary accommodation transfer list (transfer list). On 2 April 2025 Miss D, via her Representative, formally complained to the Council. She was in unsuitable temporary accommodation, and her children needed their own bedrooms. On 11 April the Council asked the TA Team to confirm if the family were on the transfer list. On 17 April the Council responded to the complaint. It accepted the accommodation was not suitable. The family were on a waiting list to be moved but there was a lack of accessible accommodation. The Council said, ‘we are prioritising your case’. It was also looking for suitable properties that could be adapted. On 23 April the TA Team noted the family had now been added to the transfer list. I have not seen any evidence of how their priority on the list was assessed or what decision was made about their position on the list. At the end of April the Council recorded no suitable temporary accommodation had been available for the family that month. There was a shortage of wheelchair accessible accommodation.
15. On 16 May Miss D asked the Council to escalate her complaint. She had not received updates on her housing situation. The Council replied on 10 June. It accepted it had not notified Miss D about her position on the waiting list and apologised. It said Miss D was on the priority list to be moved. The Council could not give a timeframe for when this would happen, but the TA Team were searching for suitable temporary accommodation. At the end of the month the Council recorded no suitable temporary accommodation had been available for the family.
16. On 18 June Miss D’s Representative asked the TA Team for an update when Miss D would be offered suitable temporary accommodation. The TA Team replied the same day, the family were on the urgent transfer list. The Council was looking for a wheelchair accessible property that met their needs. At the end of June the Council noted no suitable long term temporary accommodation had been available for the family that month. Also in June the Council says its housing system automatically updated Miss D’s bedroom entitlement from two to three bedroom need because her oldest child turned 10.

Events outside the investigation timeframe

17. In August and September two properties were identified by the Council. Miss D told me neither home was suitable as it did not meet the assessed access needs for the family.

What should have happened

The main housing duty

18. 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)

Suitability of temporary accommodation

19. 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)
20. Where a homelessness applicant tells the Council their current temporary accommodation is unsuitable because of medical need the Council should carry out a suitability assessment. It will seek advice from an independent Medical Adviser. A Council Officer will then complete a suitability assessment form taking account of information from the applicant and the Medical Adviser. If they find the accommodation is unsuitable the applicant should be notified. The Council should place the applicant onto its transfer list and immediately start to seek alternative accommodation.

Temporary accommodation transfer list

21. The TA Team should consider the priority and needs of the applicant when placing them onto the transfer list. Good practice would be for the TA Team to notify the applicant of their priority status. The TA Team then makes regular checks of available temporary accommodation stock to identify if a suitable property is available.

Allocations Policy

22. The Council’s Allocations Policy sets out how the Council assesses housing register applicants, awards a housing Band to reflect their level of housing need and how bedroom entitlements are decided.
23. Under the Allocations Policy the Council will award a housing Band to a housing register applicant. Band 1 is for emergency cases including people who have to decant their home or applicants in hospital who cannot leave because they do not have a suitable adapted home and have been awarded emergency medical priority. There is management discretion for the Council to award Band 1 to an applicant. Band 2 recognises an applicant with a high need to be rehoused including those with an assessed high medical priority by the Council.
24. Usually applicants bid for advertised social housing as part of the Choice Based Lettings system. In general a property is awarded to the applicant in the highest Band who has been in that Band for the longest time. The Council can in ‘exceptional circumstances’ make a direct offer of housing to an applicant this can include where Senior Officers decide a specific property should be matched directly to an applicant due to their exceptional needs/ exceptional urgency of the case.
25. The Council determines how many bedrooms an applicant needs using the Allocations Policy. A two bedroom property is considered suitable for a lone parent/ couple with one child or two children of the opposite sex under 10. A three bedroom property is applied to applicants where there is a lone parent/ couple with two children not of the same sex and one child is over 10 years old. An applicant can ask the Council to assess whether there is a medical need for an additional bedroom. When a request is received the Council should carry out an assessment and notify the applicant about its decision.
26. Where an applicant is accepted by the Council as having medical need for an adapted property (for example a wheelchair accessible home) the Council will only offer permanent social housing that meets the applicant’s assessed needs or can be reasonably adapted to meet their needs. The Council should clearly identify adapted/ adaptable properties in the property listings. The shortlist of bidders who meet the criteria are passed to a Community Occupational Therapist to check whether the property meets the needs of the highest ranked bidder.

Was there fault by the Council

27. The Council delayed placing Miss D onto the transfer list. It assessed her current housing as unsuitable at the end of March 2024. It should have promptly added her to the transfer list and started to seek alternative temporary accommodation but that did not happen. Instead Miss D was added to the transfer list at the end of April 2025, over a year a later, and only because of her formally complaining and chasing up the Council. This is a significant period of delay and the Council failed to meet its duty to seek suitable accommodation for the family.
28. Once the Council added Miss D to the transfer list in April 2025 it failed to advise her about what, if any priority, she had on that list. The Council acknowledged this error in its 10 June 2025 complaints response, but I cannot see that Miss D has ever received a clear explanation about how the transfer list works nor where she has been placed on that list.
29. I have no evidence of any useful actions on Miss D’s case from April 2024 until April 2024. The Council failed to ensure she was on the transfer list, as set out above and did not provide her with updates on her case.
30. Miss D requested on 10 December 2024 the Council assess if she needed a three bedroom property. The Council says this matter was not progressed. Instead the household’s bedroom need was automatically updated to three bedrooms in June 2025 when one of Miss D’s children turned 10 years old. The Council should have ensured an assessment was done in December 2024 to see whether there was a medical need for an extra bedroom. Miss D was left without a response to her request despite chasing this up with the Council into 2025.
31. Miss D has remained in unsuitable temporary accommodation since the end of March 2024 when the Council accepted she needed to move. The Council says it has been actively checking for suitable temporary accommodation since Miss D was placed onto the transfer list in April 2025. It states there is a shortage of adapted temporary accommodation and its records for April to June 2025 show no adapted properties became available. I recognise the reality that a shortage of available accommodation means the Council is not always able to fulfil its immediate, non-deferrable, and unqualified duty to provide suitable temporary accommodation. Simply adding an applicant to a transfer list and waiting for a suitable property to become available will not meet the Ombudsman’s expectations for how the Council should demonstrate its efforts to meet its duty. This is in line with the court’s decision that “putting applicants who are owed a section 193(2) duty, and who are in unsuitable accommodation, on a waiting list for temporary accommodation is not a lawful means of fulfilling the unqualified and immediate duty to secure suitable temporary accommodation for their occupation.” (Elkundi & Ors, R (On the application of) v Birmingham City Council [2021] EWHC 1024 (admin) 308). I expect to see evidence of the Council making efforts to fulfil their duties at both an individual and strategic level. I cannot see the Council has taken additional steps to help Miss D find alternative temporary accommodation.

Did the fault cause an injustice

32. The faults by the Council meant Miss D and her family have remained in unsuitable temporary accommodation. The Council lost a valuable 12 month period where it could and should have been searching for alternative temporary accommodation. Miss D received a poor level of service and did not receive clear information at times or have her requests progressed. Miss D has told me her child would significantly benefit from being able to have an electric wheelchair and is being deprived of this aid due to their housing.

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Action

33. To remedy the injustice caused to Miss D and her family the Council has agreed to:
• Make a direct offer to Miss D for a wheelchair adapted property ‘as soon as one becomes available’. It says it will also look for a property from different housing providers.
• Arrange a face to face meeting between Miss D and a Senior Officer to explain where she is placed on the temporary accommodation transfer list and to answer her queries about the case.
• Pay Miss D £250 per month for the time spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation. That would be £3,500 for the 14 month period covered by this investigation (up to the end of June 2025). The Council should also consider the same rate of redress for the period from July 2025 to the end of April 2026 (10 months x £250 totalling £2500). Furthermore the Council should pay Miss D an ongoing £250 per month after April 2026 for up to six months if Miss D does not receive a suitable offer of temporary or permanent housing or the Council ends its duty towards her.
34. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions within four weeks of the case closing.

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Decision

35. I find fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman