Summary: The Council was at fault for not completing a suitability review when Ms X told it about her change in circumstances and for the time taken to move her from unsuitable temporary accommodation. Ms X has spent a significant amount of time in accommodation which is unsuitable for her. The Council agreed to apologise and make a payment to recognise the time spent in unsuitable accommodation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has not moved her from unsuitable temporary accommodation.
2. Ms X says living in this accommodation is causing her health and her children’s health to worsen.

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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 recommend 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. 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

6. I have not investigated matters before November 2024 as any events before this happened over 12 months since Ms X complained to us. I can see no good reason why we should consider events before November 2024 or why Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Ms 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

Law and guidance

9. 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.
10. If a council is satisfied an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
11. 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 and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
12. 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)
13. Councils must complete a review into the suitability of someone’s temporary accommodation within eight weeks of the date of the review request. These periods can be extended if the applicant agrees in writing. The council must advise applicants of their right to appeal to the county court on a point of law, and of the period in which to appeal. Applicants can also appeal if the council takes more than the prescribed time to complete the review. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202, 203 and 204)

What happened

14. In March 2024, the Council decided it owed Ms X the main housing duty after she approached it for homelessness support.
15. In June 2024, Ms X moved into a one-bedroom property. This was temporary accommodation provided by the Council. Ms X lived here with two of her children. Ms X was also on the Council’s housing register and in Band C as the Council owed her the main housing duty.
16. In November 2024, Ms X sent the Council a change in circumstance form as two of her other children moved into the property. These were two older teenagers. As a result Ms X now lived with four children.
17. In December 2024, Ms X asked the Council to move her as her household was overcrowded.
18. The Council decided in April 2025 to place Ms X onto its temporary accommodation transfer list.
19. In late June 2024, Ms X complained to the Council. Ms X said she was living in unsuitable accommodation and this was impacting the wellbeing of her family.
20. In early July 2025, the Council responded to Ms X’s complaint. The Council said it recognised her accommodation was not suitable and had placed her onto the temporary accommodation transfer list.
21. Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint further in late July 2025. Ms X said the Council had not resolved her overcrowding and it had not given her a timeline for when she could move. Ms X also said the Council had not placed her into Band 1 on its housing register for overcrowding.
22. In mid-September 2025, the Council sent Ms X its final response to her complaint.
• The Council accepted it was at fault for how it handled her complaint and delays responding to it. The Council offered Ms X £50 for the time and trouble she experienced.
• The Council said it should have completed a suitability review of Ms X’s accommodation in November 2024 when she sent her change in circumstance form. The Council said it had a shortage of three and four bedroom properties so had not been able to move Ms X.
• In relation to Ms X’s housing register application, the Council said it did not consider she should be in Band 1 and being statutory overcrowded did not guarantee Band 1 status.
• The Council said it would carry out a suitability assessment.
23. In April 2026 the Council carried out a suitability assessment of Ms X’s property and found the accommodation was not suitable and Ms X was to remain on the temporary accommodation transfer list.

Analysis

Temporary accommodation

24. Ms X sent the Council a change of circumstances form in November 2024, adding two children to her household. The Council should have at this stage assessed the suitability of Ms X’s temporary accommodation. Failure to do so was fault. The Council recognised this in its complaint response which was welcomed.
25. I consider that on balance had the Council assessed the suitability of Ms X’s temporary accommodation in November 2024, it would have decided it was unsuitable at this stage and placed her onto the temporary accommodation transfer list. This is because the Council placed Ms X onto its temporary accommodation transfer list in April 2025 as her property was overcrowded and her circumstances had not changed. Ms X would have joined the temporary accommodation transfer list in January 2025, should it have taken the Council the statutory eight weeks to complete the suitability review.
26. Ms X has suffered injustice as she has been living in unsuitable accommodation for a significant period of time. During this time the Council has looked for alternative temporary accommodation for Ms X but has not been able to identify any suitable properties for her either in its area or a neighbouring area due to shortages of temporary accommodation. I consider this to be service failure by the Council.
27. Where we have found a household has spent time in unsuitable accommodation, our guidance on remedies recommends a monthly payment for each month in unsuitable accommodation. In coming to a suitable figure I considered the circumstances of Ms X’s household, i.e. four children, their ages and sexes and the size of the property.
28. The Council in its final complaint response to Ms X in September 2025, told her it would carry out a suitability review of her accommodation. The Council carried this out in April 2026, seven months later. I consider the length of time for the Council to complete this was fault. The stage two complaint response suggested the Council would complete a suitability review soon after the stage two response.
29. While the delay carrying this out was fault, I do not consider it caused Ms X any further injustice. This was because she was already on the temporary accommodation transfer list and the Council had previously accepted her property was unsuitable.

Complaint handling

30. The Council was at fault for how it handled Ms X’s complaint. There was a delay responding to her complaint at stage two of its complaints process. As a result Ms X had to wait longer than she should to complete the complaints process and bring her complaint to the Ombudsman.
31. The Council recognised this in its complaint response and apologised. The Council also offered Ms X a payment for the time and trouble she experienced. I consider this is suitable to remedy the injustice caused to Ms X.

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Agreed Action

32. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Ms X for the injustice caused by the above faults. 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.
• Pay Ms X £5,700 for the time she spent in unsuitable accommodation from January 2025 to August 2026. I have calculated this at £300 per month.
• Continue to pay Ms X £300 per month for six months or until the Council makes her an offer of suitable accommodation or discharges its duty, whichever is sooner.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman