Summary: Miss X complained about the suitability of her temporary accommodation. We found fault by the Council which caused Miss X avoidable distress and meant she lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary. The Council had offered a suitable payment to remedy Miss X’s injustice but had applied this to her rent arrears which was not in accordance with our guidance. The Council agreed to make this payment directly to Miss X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains the temporary accommodation provided by the Council between May 2023 and June 2025 was unsuitable and it took too long to provide more suitable accommodation. Miss X says because of the Council’s fault she lived in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary which had a harmful impact on her health.
2. Miss X also complained about a lack of support when she was living in supported housing between 2021 and 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
6. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
7. 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

8. I have investigated the issues relating to Miss X’s temporary accommodation between May 2023 and June 2025.
9. I have not investigated earlier issues with Miss X’s supported housing from 2021 to 2023 as she could have complained to the Ombudsman about them earlier. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until August 2025. This is a late complaint (please see paragraph 4 above) and there is not good reason to accept those parts of it for investigation now.
10. Some of the events relating to Miss X’s temporary accommodation would also be caught by this restriction and she would have had review and appeal rights about its suitability (please see paragraphs 5 and 15). However, I have exercised the discretion available to me to investigate events from May 2023 to June 2025 relating to the suitability of Miss X’s temporary accommodation. I have taken into account Miss X’s vulnerabilities in considering whether it would have been reasonable for her to have used her review and appeal rights and the fact these rights would no longer provide an effective remedy as she moved to new accommodation in June 2025.
11. Miss X also raised issues about her housing benefit and these are the subject of a separate complaint to the Ombudsman and do not form part of this investigation.

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How I considered this complaint

12. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
13. Miss 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

Background and legislation

14. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
15. 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)
16. Wherever possible, Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast accommodation. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.33)

What happened

17. The Council provided emergency accommodation to Miss X in May 2023 as she was due to be evicted from her supported housing. This accommodation was a basement room at a hotel. Miss X says the accommodation was unsuitable for the following reasons:

• it was down several flights of stairs which she found difficult due to her disability
• she did not have access to a fridge to store her medication
• she was not allowed visitors including her carer
• there were no windows.

18. Miss X says she repeatedly raised the above issues with the Council but no action was taken. Miss X says there were regular changes to her case officer and periods with no case officer.
19. The Council accepted the main housing duty to Miss X in June 2023.
20. Miss X complained to the Council at the end of March 2025 about several issues including the suitability and length of stay at the temporary accommodation.
21. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint towards the end of April 2025. In response to Miss X’s concerns about the temporary accommodation, the Council accepted this was not suitable due to her medical needs and that the most appropriate course of action would be a referral to its Allocations Panel for a Direct Offer of social housing. The Panel had approved this referral and the Council arranged the completion of a suitability assessment and medical form with Miss X to ensure the offer was suitable. The Council also allocated a new case officer to Miss X.
22. Miss X escalated her complaint to the Council at the end of April 2025. The Council responded to Miss X in early June 2025. The Council acknowledged there were delays in progressing Miss X’s homeless application including when her case officer left and her case was not reallocated. The Council confirmed it had taken action to ensure a proper handover of cases going forward. The Council accepted that if it had handled Miss X’s application without the accepted delays it would have reached the point of a formal review of suitability or consideration by the Allocations Panel earlier. The Council apologised for the delay in processing Miss X’s application and offered £5,000. The Council outlined that this amount would be credited to Miss X’s rent account as she had outstanding arrears which was in line with its complaints policy.
23. The Council provided alternative accommodation to Miss X at the end of June 2025. Miss X has confirmed this accommodation is a ground floor self-contained studio and she has access to a fridge.
24. The Council wrote to Miss X in July 2025 about her separate housing benefit complaint and noted it had not applied the £5,000 to her rent account but that it would now do so.

Analysis

25. The Council has accepted there was delay in Miss X’s homeless application and the accommodation it provided to her between May 2023 and June 2025 was not suitable. This is fault.
26. The Council apologised for the delay and offered £5,000 to acknowledge this (and a delay in escalating Miss X’s separate housing benefit complaint). This amount is in line with our guidance on remedies and I consider it represents a reasonable and proportionate way to remedy the injustice caused to Miss X from the avoidable distress and living in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary.
27. However, the Council has applied this amount to arrears on Miss X’s rent account which is not in line with our guidance on remedies above. This guidance sets out our approach when someone affected by fault causing injustice may still owe the council money. Where we recommend a symbolic financial payment to acknowledge avoidable distress we set the amount to appropriately reflect the scale of injustice. That payment should not be offset against any debts as this would stop the remedy from working as intended.

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Action

28. The Council will take the following action within one month of my final decision to provide a suitable remedy to Miss X:
1. remove the £5,000 it has applied to Miss X’s rent account and make this payment directly to Miss X to acknowledge her avoidable distress and living in an unsuitable property for longer than necessary;
2. ensure any outstanding charges relating to the unsuitable temporary hotel accommodation that may be created by making this payment to Miss X are waived; and
3. remind relevant staff of the need to take into account and apply in appropriate cases the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies about making financial payments to someone affected by fault causing injustice who may still owe the council money and waiving outstanding charges for temporary accommodation that was clearly unsuitable for the household’s needs.
29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman