Summary: The Council was at fault as it failed to take proactive steps to prevent Ms X’s homelessness when she received a notice evicting her from her property. It also failed to offer storage support for Ms X’s belongings. The Council has apologised, made service improvements and offered Ms X a financial remedy. The Council does not need to take further action.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to provide suitable interim accommodation for herself and her children. Ms X also complained the Council failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the loss of her property when she moved to new accommodation. This caused signficant financial distress to Ms X and emotional distress to Ms X and her children. Ms X wants the Council to apologise and make a financial remedy for the lost of their belongings and expenses. She also wants the Council to improve its processes so this does not happen to other people.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, 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 the future we may recommend 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)

What I have and have not investigated

5. I can only investigate the actions of the Council. I cannot investigate the actions of the Landlord.
6. I cannot investigate anything that has happened in court. This means I cannot investigate the Tort Notice served on Ms X.

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How I considered this complaint

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

Legislation and statutory guidance

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.

Homeless definition

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. 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)

Duty to provide Advisory Services

12. Councils must provide to anyone in their district information and free advice on preventing homelessness and securing accommodation when homeless.

The prevention duty

13. 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

The relief duty

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

Review rights

15. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted (and the suitability of accommodation offered under section 200(3) and section 193). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.

Protection of belongings

16. Where the council owes or has owed certain housing duties to an applicant, it must protect the applicant’s personal property if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged. A council may make a reasonable charge for storage and reserve the right to dispose of the property if it loses contact with the applicant. (Housing Act 1996, section 211, Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 20)

What happened

17. I have summarised below the key events; this is not intended to be a detailed account.
18. At the end of May 2025, Ms X received an eviction notice, requiring her to leave her Property (Property A), by the middle of June 2025. Ms X told the Council when she received the notice.
19. In the middle of June 2025, Ms X was evicted from Property A. The Council placed her and her children in temporary accommodation at Property B.
20. At the beginning of August 2025, Ms X asked the Council for a review of Property B. She said the temporary accommodation was unsuitable because of infestation and disrepair which impacted on her and her children's health.
21. One week later, the Council moved Ms X and her family to alternative temporary accommodation at Property C.
22. A couple of days later, the Council withdrew Ms X's suitability review of Property B. This was because it had already moved Ms X to alternative accommodation at Property C.
23. Ms X did not move all her belongings from Property B to Property C when she moved.
24. Roughly a week later, Ms X emailed the Council and said the Council had failed to support her move to Property C. She said Property C was not ready to be occupied; it was unfurnished and dirty. Her belongings in Property B were infested by bedbugs, she did not want to transport the infestation to Property C. Ms X told me she spent around a week in temporary placements including hotels and the civic centre because the property was not suitable to live in.
25. The following day, Ms X attended Property B with her father but did not remove her belongings. Ms X told me this was because the property had a bedbug infestation.
26. A couple of days later, the Landlord from Property B served a Tort Notice on the property which needed Ms X to collect her belongings within a week, by late August.
27. The Council liaised with Ms X and the landlord to arrange a time for her to collect her belongings.
28. At the beginning of September, the Landlord removed and disposed Ms X’s and her children's belongings from Property B.
29. Around the middle of September, the Council made a direct offer of social housing to Ms X.

Complaint

30. Ms X complained to the Council in the middle of July 2025 about how the Council handled her homelessness case. The Council issued its stage one complaint response in the middle of August 2025.
31. At the beginning of September 2025, Ms X complained again to the Council. She said her belongings had been unlawfully disposed of.
32. Ms X was not satisfied with the Council’s responses and asked for a stage two investigation.
33. The Council sent its stage two response at the end of October 2025 which responded to both parts of Ms X’s complaint. The Council accepted it was at fault as it did not offer Ms X advice and accommodation until she was about to be evicted from Property A. It said this approach was not in line with the Homelessness Code of Guidance which requires councils to take proactive steps to prevent homelessness.
34. It said it was satisfied the landlord gave Ms X reasonable opportunity to collect her belongings and the Council took proportionate steps to facilitate it including asking the landlord to agree an extension to the deadline. The Council noted it did not advise Ms X of its storage policy, despite Ms X asking for help packing, transporting and storing her belongings. The Council said it missed opportunities to safeguard and preserve her belongings and accepted it was at fault for not considering if the storage policy applied in Ms X’s case. The Council said it will remind officers about this duty.
35. The Council apologised for the distress and inconvenience caused to Ms X and offered her £750 as a remedy.
36. Ms X was not satisfied with the Council’s complaint response and came to the Ombudsman at the beginning of September.

Analysis

37. A council has a duty to help people threatened with homelessness to keep their home or find somewhere new to live. While the Council did provide temporary accommodation for Ms X and her children, this was last minute. It failed to take proactive steps to prevent her homelessness or provide advice. The Council accepted it was at fault in its complaint response for not offering this earlier when Ms X told it she was being evicted. This caused Ms X and her family distress as they did not know where they were going to move to on the date of eviction.
38. Ms X raised concerns about Property B with the Council and asked for a suitability review. This was the correct mechanism to challenge the suitability of the property. The Council started the procedure for a suitability review but moved her to a new property before it completed this process. This was the result Ms X wanted. The Council was not at fault.
39. As set out above in paragraph 16, councils have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent the loss and mitigate damage of a person’s property in some housing cases. Ms X raised issues with accessing and moving her belongings with the Council. The Council negotiated with the landlord, gave Ms X opportunities to collect her belongings and extended the deadline for her to do so.
40. The Council could have done more to help Ms X with her property. The guidance suggests councils meet the duty to protect property by putting the applicant’s property into storage or moving property to a location chosen by the applicant. The Council knew Ms X was having problems moving and storing her property and did not offer this service which was fault. This caused Ms X distress.
41. Ms X complained the Council was responsible for destroying her belongings. The landlord removed Ms X’s belongings from Property B after getting a court order; not the Council. I cannot investigate the actions of the landlord or matters that have been in court.
42. The Council accepted it in its complaint response it failed to take proactive steps when Ms X received a notice evicting her from her property, and failed to offer storage support for Ms X’s belongings. It has apologised for the distress caused and offered a financial remedy; this offer is still open for Ms X to accept. The Council has also made service improvements. I consider these to be satisfactory remedies.

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Decision

43. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has already offered to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman