Summary: Mrs Y complained the Council failed to respond properly to her homelessness application and provide her and her family with suitable interim accommodation. We have not found fault with the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains about the way the Council dealt with her family’s housing situation in 2025. She says it failed to respond properly to her homelessness application and provide them with suitable interim accommodation.
2. Mrs Y says, because of the Council’s failures, she and her family were left homeless, affecting their security and wellbeing.
3. She wants the Council to provide them with suitable accommodation outside its area, apologise for its failures and confirm it has learned lessons to prevent this happening to others.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these.
5. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
6. 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)
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. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
9. This means we are not able to investigate Mrs Y’s complaint about the Council’s actions as her landlord.
10. The Housing Ombudsman Service investigates complaints involving tenants and social housing landlords, including councils. We have referred this part of Mrs Y’s complaint to them.
11. I have investigated Mrs Y’s complaint about the way the Council dealt with her homelessness application from May 2025 until August 2025 which is when she brought her complaint to us following the Council’s final response.

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How I considered this complaint

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

What should have happened

Homelessness – the law

14. 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.
15. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them and anyone who lives with them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)

The relief duty

16. 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)

Assessments and Personal Housing Plans

17. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment.
18. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan (PHP). (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)

Duty to arrange interim accommodation (section 188)

19. A council must secure accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This is called interim accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
20. 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)
21. Bed and breakfast (B&B) accommodation can only be used for households which include a pregnant woman or dependent child when no other accommodation is available and then for no more than six weeks.
22. B&B is accommodation which is not self-contained, not owned or managed by the council or a registered provider of social housing and where the toilet, washing, or cooking facilities are shared with other households. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) (England) Order 2003 and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.36-17.37)

Referral to another housing authority (section 198)

23. Where an applicant would be owed the relief duty, they can be referred to a second local authority in England where any of the following three conditions for referral are met:

• the applicant has no local connection and a connection elsewhere;
• up to five years after an out of borough placement; or
• in the two years after a private rented sector offer;

24. Where one of three conditions for referral are met the local authority has the discretion whether or not to refer. 

Review rights

25. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of certain decisions, including:

• the steps they are to take in their personalised housing plan at the relief duty stage;
• giving notice to bring the relief duty to an end; and
• whether the conditions are met for the referral of their case to another housing authority;

What happened

26. I have set out a summary of the key events below. It is not meant to show everything that happened. It is based on my review of all the evidence provided about this complaint.

Background

27. Mrs Y was a Council tenant. Her household included a child.
28. Her property suffered water damage while she was away. The Council says it attended, addressed the issue and made the property safe.
29. When Mrs Y returned to her home a few days later, she told the Council it was uninhabitable due to the damage. The Council’s community housing team provided her and her family with emergency accommodation at a local hotel while it carried out remedial work.
30. There was then a dispute between the Council and Mrs Y about whether the property was habitable. The Council said it was. Mrs Y did not return home.

May 2025: Mrs Y’s homelessness application

31. Mrs Y contacted the Council’s homelessness team about her situation. It recorded this as a homelessness application. It arranged an assessment appointment with Mrs Y and contacted the community housing team for information about the condition of their home.
32. The Council’s record of the assessment appointment notes:

• Mrs Y said they could not live at the property due to its condition and were currently staying on a campsite elsewhere. She believed there were structural issues and wanted the Council’s Environmental Health team to inspect the property;
• she and her family did not feel safe living in the Council’s area. It was a trauma trigger because of a household member’s childhood experiences in the area. There had been incidents in the past with a resident in their local area and at their child’s school; and
• they wanted the Council’s support to secure alternative housing outside the area.

33. The homelessness team made enquiries of the community housing team about the condition of Mrs Y’s home. It said the property was safe for Mrs Y to return and live there while the further repairs were completed. It also confirmed it had provided Mrs Y and her family with hotel accommodation while it completed the initial emergency repair work.

May/June 2025: further contact about the property’s condition

34. There was ongoing contact between the community housing team and Mrs Y about the other remedial work and the access required to complete this.
35. The Council carried out a further inspection of the property. It determined it was now uninhabitable.
36. Following this decision, the Council accepted Mrs Y was homeless because it was not now reasonable for her and her household to continue living at the property.

June 2025: offer of interim accommodation

37. The Council told Mrs Y in writing it had accepted the duty to offer her suitable interim accommodation and confirmed its offer of accommodation to meet this duty. It said:

• the accommodation offered was bed and breakfast (B&B) type accommodation at Hotel A, in a nearby locality outside the Council’s area;
• B&B accommodation was not generally considered suitable for applicants with families, but may be used by councils in limited circumstances when there is no other accommodation available, and for no longer than six weeks;
• it had offered this accommodation because they required emergency accommodation and there was no other or better accommodation available that day; and
• it would carry on looking for available alternative suitable accommodation.

38. It also told Mrs Y it had assessed her housing needs and was satisfied the offer was suitable and reasonable for her to accept. There was no statutory right of review of its suitability, but it would consider any concerns she may have about the accommodation. The duty to provide her with accommodation would end if she refused the offer.
39. Mrs Y spoke to the homelessness team about the offer of accommodation at Hotel A. The case note records Mrs Y refused the offer. She said it would cause her too much distress because she had experienced an assault near there some years ago. The team said the Council would end the interim accommodation duty if she refused the offer.
40. Mrs Y contacted the Council following this conversation and told it:

• Hotel A’s location was a severe safeguarding risk. She could not consider it because of the assault she had experienced near there. Any proximity to this location triggered debilitating panic attacks;
• she was not refusing accommodation, only unsafe, harmful accommodation; and
• she wanted it to arrange immediate interim accommodation in a different, safe area. She also wanted it to issue a detailed PHP, reflecting their trauma and disability needs.

41. I understand the homelessness team offered Mrs Y other accommodation at Hotel B, which was within the Council’s area but some distance from the local area in which they had been living. Mrs Y refused this offer.
42. The Council notified Mrs Y in writing:

• its duty to provide her with temporary accommodation would end if she refused to accept the accommodation offered;
• it had assessed her housing circumstances and needs and was satisfied the offer was suitable and reasonable for her to accept. It had offered two temporary accommodation options and she had refused both;
• she had refused the offer of accommodation at Hotel A. She had told it about an assault she experienced in the nearby area, but could not advise where or why this hotel would not be suitable; and
• she had refused the offer of accommodation at Hotel B and had not explained why.

43. It also told Mrs Y:

• if she refused the offer of interim temporary accommodation and the Council did not accept her reasons for this, it would notify her by a separate letter that its duty to secure interim accommodation for them had been brought to an end; and
• it strongly advised her to protect her position and ensure they had accommodation to live in by accepting the offer, as it would not make any further offer.

June 2025: the relief duty

44. The community housing team updated the homelessness team about the position with Mrs Y’s tenancy and the property. It also advised it had provided Mrs Y and her family with emergency accommodation at Hotel A a couple of years ago while another issue at the property was resolved.
45. The homelessness team spoke again to Mrs Y. The case note says it discussed her reasons for refusing the accommodation at Hotel A. It advised the interim accommodation duty had been discharged but the Council had accepted the relief duty. This meant it would help them to secure other accommodation in the private rented sector or retain their existing accommodation. The PHP was agreed.
46. The Council notified Mrs Y in writing it had accepted the relief duty. It said:

• it was satisfied she was homeless and it had a duty to help her find somewhere else to live;
• it attached her PHP which set out the actions discussed and steps they needed to take together to do this;
• she had the right to request a review of the Council’s decision about the steps they needed to take to relieve her homelessness, and its decision about the relief duty; and
• it would notify her in writing if it decided to end the relief duty.

June 2025: help to find Mrs Y somewhere else to live

47. Mrs Y told the homelessness team she was looking into the possibility of finding private rented accommodation but was concerned this would be difficult due to its affordability and their support animals. She asked the Council to consider transferring its duty to another local authority under section 198 so they could make a fresh start away from the harm they had experienced while living in the Council’s area.
48. The homelessness team asked its housing support team to help Mrs Y secure private rented accommodation for her family.
49. The housing support team contacted Mrs Y and:

• explained it had been asked to help her to look for private rented accommodation;
• asked her to provide financial information so it could calculate what would be affordable for her;
• provided details of private rental agents and housing associations. It asked her to complete details of her contact with letting agents in the accommodation action plan as set out in her PHP; and
• advised it could arrange a face-to-face appointment with her to help with the search.

50. Mrs Y told the housing support team:

• the PHP missed important information about their concerns about returning to live in the Council’s area;
• they were now making efforts to settle in a new area. They had contacted local letting agents and housing associations in this new area;
• she had asked to be referred to another authority under section 198; and
• the PHP should be rectified.

Mrs Y’s complaint to the Council

51. Mrs Y complained to the Council about the way it had dealt with the damage at her property and her request for homelessness assistance.
52. In its final response to the complaint about her homelessness application, the Council said:

• it had considered their disabilities as part of the homelessness assessment and offered them interim accommodation. This duty had been discharged as they had refused the offer;
• although the interim accommodation duty had ended, it had accepted the relief duty and would continue to offer support to find private rented accommodation.

53. Mrs Y was not satisfied with the response and brought her complaint to us in August 2025.

Events after August 2025

54. The homelessness team heard nothing further from Mrs Y about her application. It contacted her by email in October. It said it had been told she had approached another local authority for help and asked whether she still wanted its assistance. It did not receive a reply from Mrs Y.
55. The Council was then told by another authority, it had accepted a homelessness application from Mrs Y and provided the family with temporary accommodation.
56. The Council notified Mrs Y in November it had ended the relief duty because, as she had not attempted to contact it and they had lost contact with her, it could only assume she did not require its assistance and had withdrawn her application. It also told her about her right to request a review of this decision.

My decision – was there fault by the Council causing injustice?

57. We are not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether it was right or wrong.

The way the Council handled Mrs Y’s homelessness application

58. I have considered the way the Council dealt with the different stages of Mrs Y’s homelessness application:
1. with regard to her initial approach to the homelessness team in May 2025, my view is the Council:

• responded properly to her request for assistance by promptly arranging an assessment and making enquiries about whether or not it was reasonable for them to continue to live at the property. Based on the information provided at that time, it concluded they were not homeless because it was reasonable for them to continue living at their home; and
• properly reviewed Mrs Y’s application on being advised the property was no longer habitable and accepted she was now homeless.
2. with regard to Mrs Y’s request the Council provide the family with interim accommodation, my view is it:
• properly accepted it had a duty to provide them with interim accommodation and explained what this meant, the circumstances in which it could offer B&B accommodation and the implications of refusing a suitable offer;
• properly offered Mrs Y hotel accommodation, as emergency interim accommodation, in two locations. The Council has confirmed it has a process for sourcing available interim accommodation suitable for families from within its own housing stock and schemes located within its borough. It offered the hotels as emergency accommodation while it identified an available option for the family, suitable as interim accommodation in the longer term;
• discussed Mrs Y’s concerns about Hotel A with her and properly considered her reasons for refusing the offers before deciding the accommodation offered was suitable for the family’s short term, immediate needs and ending the interim accommodation duty. I have not found fault in how it took this decision and so cannot question whether it was right or wrong.
3. with regard to the relief duty, my view is the Council:
• provided Mrs Y with support and offers of help to find private rented, or other suitable accommodation in accordance with the actions set out in the PHP; and
• concluded she did not meet the conditions for a referral to another authority under section 198 because of her local connection.

59. I have not found fault with the way the Council handled Mrs Y’s homelessness application.

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Decision

60. I have not found fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman