Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to properly deal with her daughter’s homelessness application. We find failings in the Council’s consideration of the suitability of interim accommodation, its handling of the referral process and its complaint handling. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments to Miss X and her daughter, and make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council failed to provide appropriate assistance to her daughter, Miss B, when she became homeless in January 2025. Miss X says the Council failed to offer Miss B suitable interim accommodation and wrongly referred her to another council where she was at risk of violence.
2. Miss X says the Council’s actions caused Miss B significant distress and resulted in her living in an area where she did not feel safe for several months.

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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. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council have 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

Councils’ responsibilities

7. This complaint is about Brighton and Hove City Council which I refer to as “the Council” in this statement. It is a unitary authority responsible for housing and social care services in its area.
8. Miss B was previously a looked after child under the responsibility of a neighbouring council, Council C. It is responsible for children's services but not housing.
9. Housing functions in Council C’s area are carried out by five district councils. The Council made a referral under section 198 of the Housing Act 1996 to two of those district councils which I refer to as Councils D and E.
10. Councils D and E are separate councils but are managed jointly and share the same work force.
11. A section 198 referral allows a council dealing with a homelessness application to refer an applicant’s case to another council where it has decided the applicant has a local connection with that council’s area and does not have a local connection with its own area.

Background and key events

12. Miss B had been accommodated by Council C as a looked after child. Council C had placed Miss B in the Council’s area due to concerns about her safety in its own area.
13. When Miss B turned 18 in January 2025, she made a homelessness application to the Council. She said Council C’s duty to accommodate her had ended and she was homeless.
14. The Council accepted Miss B was homeless and in priority need. However, it decided she did not have a local connection to its area. It made a referral to Councils D and E under section 198 of the Housing Act 1996.
15. The Council accepted it owed Miss B the interim accommodation duty while Councils D and E considered whether the conditions for referral were met. It offered interim accommodation around 50 miles away. Miss B did not accept the offer. The Council considered the accommodation was suitable, and decided that because she had refused the offer, its duty to secure interim accommodation had ended.
16. Miss B went to stay with Miss X, despite it being in an area where she did not feel safe.
17. The Council notified Miss B that it had made a referral to Councils D and E and said it would write to her again once they had considered the referral.
18. Councils D and E then wrote to Miss B stating that they considered she lacked capacity to make a homelessness application and so had referred her case to social services at Council C.
19. Miss B remained living with Miss X for several months before Council C arranged alternative accommodation.

Analysis

Complaint handling

20. The Council's complaints procedure says it aims to respond to stage one complaints within 10 working days and stage two complaints within 20 working days.
21. Miss X first complained to the Council in December 2024 that it was not responding to her concerns about Miss B’s impending homelessness. The Council took around eight weeks to respond, explaining that it required Miss B's consent before it could discuss her case with Miss X. This delay was fault.
22. After receiving Miss B’s consent, it took a further 13 weeks to provide its final response in June 2025. This delay was fault. I recognise that Miss X contributed to around seven weeks of this delay because she did not respond to the Council’s request for further information.
23. The Council’s delays caused Miss X avoidable frustration and put her to unnecessary time and trouble.

Interim accommodation

24. Once the Council accepted Miss B was homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need, it had a duty to secure suitable interim accommodation.
25. The Council offered Miss B accommodation with shared facilities around 50 miles from its area.
26. The Council's records show officers were aware of Miss B's vulnerabilities, including her age, care leaver status, learning difficulties, mental health needs and difficulties travelling independently by public transport. However, the records do not explain how these matters were taken into account when deciding the accommodation offered was suitable. They do not show whether supported accommodation for young people was considered. Nor do they show the Council considered whether the distance from Miss B's support network or her ability to manage the accommodation independently affected its suitability. That was fault.
27. The available evidence raises significant doubt about whether the accommodation was suitable. However, because the Council failed to properly record its assessment and I do not have sufficient information about the accommodation or the support available there, I cannot safely conclude that the accommodation was unsuitable. That uncertainty arises directly from the Council's failure to properly consider and record suitability.
28. While I cannot say what accommodation the Council would have offered had it properly considered and recorded suitability, I also cannot say Miss B would have accepted any alternative accommodation. The evidence indicates Miss B was seeking self-contained accommodation within the Council's area. On the balance of probabilities, I consider it unlikely that the Council would have offered such accommodation, even if it had properly considered and recorded suitability. I therefore cannot conclude the Council's fault caused Miss B to miss out on interim accommodation. However, it has left her with uncertainty about whether the Council would have identified and offered different interim accommodation had it properly considered and recorded suitability.

Referral to Councils D and E

29. The Council decided Miss B did not have a local connection with its area because she had lived there for less than six months. In such cases, the law allows the Council to make a referral to another council where the applicant has a local connection.
30. As a care leaver, Miss B had a local connection with all the district councils in Council C's area. Miss X says Miss B was at risk of violence throughout Council C's area. This is not stated in the Council’s records. They show that Miss B told officers that she had previously been assaulted in two of the five district council areas, including Council E’s area. They do not show that Miss B was concerned that she would face violence if she was referred there.
31. The evidence shows the Council asked Miss B which of the five district councils she wanted the referral to be made to, and she expressed a preference for Councils D and E. I therefore do not find fault in the Council's decision to make the referral.

Outcome of the referral

32. After a council has made a section 198 referral, it must notify the applicant that the conditions for referral are or are not met and the reasons for the decision. Applicants have a right to request a review of the decision.
33. The Council told Miss B that it would send this notification to her after Councils D and E had considered the referral but then did not do so. This was fault. This left Miss B without clear information about which council was responsible for dealing with her homelessness application and caused avoidable uncertainty at an already difficult time.
34. I have not made any finding about whether Councils D and E were correct to conclude Miss B lacked capacity to make a homelessness application as that decision was not made by the Council and is outside the scope of this investigation.
35. Miss B remained living with Miss X in an area where she did not feel safe for several months. However, I do not consider this was a result of the faults I have identified. Those faults caused uncertainty and avoidable distress but I cannot say they cause Miss B to remain living in an area where she did not feel safe.

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Action

36. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Miss X and Miss B for the faults identified in this decision. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance when making the apology.
• Pay Miss X £100 to recognise the frustration and avoidable time and trouble she has been put to as a result of its poor complaint handling;
• Pay Miss B £150 to recognise the avoidable uncertainty and distress caused by failing to notify her of the outcome of the referral and its failure to properly consider and record the suitability of the interim accommodation it offered.
37. The Council has also agreed to take the following actions within eight weeks of my final decision:
• Remind relevant housing officers of the requirement to notify applicants of the outcome of section 198 referrals and to properly record how the suitability of interim accommodation has been considered in light of an applicant's individual circumstances.
38. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

39. I have completed my investigation and uphold the complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman