Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council considered her homelessness application and its failure to provide her with suitable temporary accommodation. The Council was at fault for delay in providing Mrs X with suitable accommodation, meaning she spent longer than necessary in unsuitable accommodation. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to reflect the injustice and act to prevent recurrence.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how the Council considered her homelessness application, and its failure to place her in suitable temporary accommodation. Mrs X says the Council accepted she was in unsuitable accommodation but did not act to move her immediately. Mrs X also says the Council delayed in dealing with her request for a review of her housing priority and reassessing her medical needs. This has impacted Mrs X’s mental health and her child’s development.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
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. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. We cannot usually investigate events that took place more than 12 months before the complaint was brought to us.
7. Mrs X first brought her complaint to us in September 2025, meaning anything that took place before September 2024 would be considered a late complaint and I have seen no reason to look back beyond this point.
8. As Mrs X’s initial homelessness application and request to review her priority and medical needs took place before September 2024, I have not considered these elements of her complaint.
9. I have considered how the Council acted to secure suitable accommodation for Mrs X and her household between September 2024 and March 2026.
10. Any mention below of events that took place either before September 2024 or after March 2026 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

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

Homelessness

13. 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.
14. 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)
15. 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. This is known as the prevention duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
16. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is known as the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
17. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to make accommodation available (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). This is known as the main housing duty. But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
18. 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)
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)

What happened

20. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mrs X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
21. Mrs X and Mr Y are on the Council’s housing register and have been receiving homelessness assistance from the Council, who accepted a main housing duty to them. Mrs X and Mr Y had been staying with family and friends while looking for a property to move into.
22. In September 2024 Mrs X informed the Council that they would no longer be able to live with family and friends and asked it to provide them with temporary accommodation.
23. Mrs X says from that point her and Mr Y often had to sleep in their car and try to stay with friends where possible.
24. Mrs X complained to the Council in December 2024. Mrs X said the Council had failed to provide accommodation which had effectively left her and Mr Y street homeless since September 2024.
25. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint later in December 2024. The Council explained in September 2024 Mrs X’s caseworker had asked its emergency accommodation team to contact her to provide accommodation but this was not authorised by the appropriate manager so Mrs X was not contacted. The Council apologised for this and said it could provide Mrs X with temporary accommodation.
26. In January 2025 the Council placed Mrs X and Mr Y in a self-contained studio flat while they continued to look for accommodation. The Council has not provided me with evidence or comments on how it considered this accommodation to be suitable for Mrs X’s household needs.
27. Shortly after Mrs X gave birth, the Council completed a new assessment for her in May 2025 to include her newborn child.
28. Mrs X complained to the Council in June 2025 as she said he had now been homeless for over two years, but the Council had failed to secure suitable, stable accommodation. Mrs X said she was currently in a studio flat which was now too small for her household and was causing her real distress.
29. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint in July 2025. The Council acknowledged the studio flat would now be too small for Mrs X’s household, especially as her baby got older. The Council explained the housing market made it difficult to find suitable, affordable accommodation but it was likely it could move her to a larger temporary accommodation within the next few weeks.
30. Mrs X continued to look for alternative accommodation and the Council continued to search for suitable alternative accommodation based on the needs of her household.
31. In February 2026 the Council offered Mrs X an assured shorthold tenancy of a property it deemed to be suitable. Mrs X accepted this and the Council ended its main housing duty to Mrs X in March 2026.

Analysis

32. Mrs X contacted the Council in September 2024 to explain she was no longer able to stay with friends and family and asked it to provide her with temporary accommodation in line with the main housing duty it had accepted to her. The duty to provide this accommodation is absolute and cannot be postponed. That the Council did not provide Mrs X and Mr Y with temporary accommodation is fault. As a result they had to spend time sofa surfing between friends and family and sleeping rough in their car, which is injustice.
33. This injustice continued for around four months until the Council provided temporary accommodation in a studio flat from January 2025. In recognition of the injustice to Mrs X and Mr Y in this time, I find the Council ought to make a payment of £1,200, in line with our published guidance on remedies, calculated at £300 per month the injustice continued. This takes account of the fact Mrs X and Mr Y had no suitable accommodation available to them and had to spend time sleeping rough.
34. From January 2025 the Council placed Mrs X and Mr Y in a studio flat while they continued to look for alternative accommodation. I asked the Council to provide evidence and comments on how it considered this accommodation to be suitable for the needs of Mrs X’s household but it has not done so. This amounts to fault and creates uncertainty as to whether the accommodation was suitable for Mrs X and Mr Y, which is injustice. To remedy this injustice, I find the Council ought to make a further payment of £200.
35. From July 2025 the Council accepted the studio flat was now too small for Mrs X’s household and agreed to make alternative temporary accommodation available to her. Where the Council agrees temporary accommodation is unsuitable, it owes an immediate duty to offer suitable temporary accommodation. This duty cannot be postponed. Failure to move Mrs X and her household to suitable temporary accommodation immediately is fault and means they remained in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary, which is injustice. This injustice continued for eight months until the Council made an offer of suitable accommodation to Mrs X, which she accepted, and ended its housing duties to her.
36. To remedy the injustice to Mrs X and Mr Y between July 2025 and March 2026, I find the Council ought to make a further payment of £1,200, in line with our published guidance on remedies, calculated at £150 per month the injustice continued. This takes account of the fact the Council agreed Mrs X and Mr Y’s accommodation was unsuitable, but that they still had somewhere to live across the time in question.

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Action

37. The Council should complete the following actions within one month of the date of this decision:
• Write to Mrs X to apologise for the delays in providing suitable accommodation. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Make a total payment of £2,600 to recognise the injustice caused to Mrs X and Mr Y between September 2024 and March 2026, as detailed and calculated above.
• Take action to remind housing staff of their responsibilities regarding the need to provide suitable interim and temporary accommodation and the low threshold the Homelessness Code of Guidance sets for this.
38. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

39. 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