Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the accommodation the Council arranged for Ms X after she became homeless. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. She said it had not offered suitable temporary accommodation, even though she is vulnerable due to poor health. She also said it had not responded to her phone calls or emails. Ms X said the Council’s failings significantly affected her mental health and meant she was street homeless for a period, during which she faced abuse and physical threats.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

5. Ms X approached the Council for help on 19 August 2025. She provided a GP letter that said she had chronic health conditions and had been street homeless in recent weeks. The GP said emergency bed and breakfast accommodation would be suitable provided it was in a specific area, but sheltered accommodation or a retirement home would be preferable in the longer term. Also on 19 August, Ms X was admitted to hospital.
6. On 22 August, the Council carried out a homelessness assessment by telephone. Also on 22 August, Ms X contacted the Council’s out of hours team, which arranged bed and breakfast accommodation for her in her preferred area.
7. On 26 August, the Council accepted a relief duty and issued a personalised housing plan. It assessed Ms X’s medical conditions but did consider she had demonstrated a medical need to remain in a specific area. It arranged alternative bed and breakfast accommodation in another area. At that stage, Ms X had not provided a completed disability and health form or GP patient summary, despite several requests for these.
8. In early September, the GP contacted the Council to raise concerns about the alternative bed and breakfast accommodation and requested a transfer to the specific area mentioned in their earlier letter. A few days later, Ms X provided the medical information, and the Council was able to obtain a medical assessment, which confirmed no medical need to remain in the specific area requested. It advised Ms X to contact its temporary accommodation team to raise concerns about her current accommodation.
9. In November 2025, an application for sheltered housing was accepted and the Council wrote to Ms X to inform her. It said it would contact her as soon as a suitable vacancy becomes available.
10. In December 2025, the Council accepted a main homelessness duty. From this point, Ms X had the right to ask for a review of the temporary accommodation the Council had arranged, and it was reasonable for her to exercise that right if she considered (or considers) it was (is) unsuitable.
11. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had some difficulty making contact with Ms X, particularly in August and there was no voicemail facility so it could not leave messages for her. It also said there was a delay in Ms X providing information it asked for.

My assessment

12. Ms X was admitted to hospital around the time she initially asked the Council for help, so it did not have an immediate duty to arrange accommodation for her.
13. It arranged two bed and breakfast placements in August, which it assessed were suitable based on the information it had at the time.
14. When the Council later completed a medical assessment, it did not identify a medical need for her to live in a specific area. And the GP letters, which I have seen, do not provide details about why a specific area was needed.
15. It is not our role to say whether the Council’s decisions were correct. Unless there was fault in its decision-making process, we cannot comment on the decisions reached. Having reviewed relevant records, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the decision-making process to justify further investigation.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman