Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council handled his reports of disrepair and infestation in his private rented flat, and also about the way it handled housing benefit payments. The Council was at fault for not responding to Mr X’s complaint. It was not at fault for the way it handled the disrepair and infestation, nor for the way it handled the housing benefit claim.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to assist him when he reported problems with mice infestation and repairs the landlord had not addressed in his privately rented flat.
2. Mr X also said the Council unreasonably refused to pay his housing benefit directly to him and had suspended payment or threatened to do so in September 2017, February 2018 and April 2019.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered:
• the information provided by Mr X;
• the Council’s replies to my enquiries;
• relevant law and guidance, as set out below; and
• our guidance on remedies.
7. I gave Mr X and the Council an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Private rented housing

8. Councils can deal with private sector housing issues, such as reports of infestation or disrepair. This Council has a designated Private Sector Housing Team that deals with these issues.
9. Where the complaint is about disrepair the council can consider taking formal action under the Housing Act 2004, for example, serving an Improvement Notice. The council can also consider carrying out an inspection under the housing health and safety rating system. Where the council identifies a category 1 or 2 hazard it may issue a Prohibition Order that prevents the use of some or all of the premises. For example, it can prohibit the use of a property as a self-contained flat because there is insufficient space and there is no action the landlord can take to put this right.

Housing benefit

10. Housing benefit helps people on low incomes to pay their rent. Usually housing benefit is paid to the claimant but councils can pay it directly to the landlord in certain circumstances. For example, housing benefit should be paid to the landlord where there are rent arrears of 8 weeks or more.
11. Councils may suspend payment in certain circumstances, for example, where it has asked for evidence or information the claimant has not provided. There is no right of appeal against a decision to suspend the benefit.

What happened

Infestation and disrepair

12. Mr X reported problems with mice infestation and disrepair in late August 2017. He said the fridge and washing machine were not working properly and the toilet was blocking.
13. The Council made an initial visit in early September 2017. It wrote to Mr X to say it could enforce repairs but was also concerned about the lack of space. It said it would carry out a formal inspection under housing health and safety guidance and it would invite the landlord to attend.
14. It carried out the formal inspection in mid September. The landlord did not attend. The officer did not find evidence of ongoing mice infestation. The officer decided the appropriate action was to issue a Prohibition Order, to prevent the landlord renting the property as a self-contained flat.
15. The Council sent a notice of its intention to issue a Prohibition Order to the landlord to give them an opportunity to comment. It sent a copy of its letter to Mr X. It also told Mr X its housing team would contact him to help him find alternative accommodation. In early November 2017 the Council issued a Prohibition Notice to the landlord and sent a copy to Mr X.
16. The Council did not take action about the infestation or the repairs because this was not compatible with the Prohibition Order. In effect the prohibition order said the flat was not suitable for rent as a self contained flat and it was not reasonable for Mr X to continue to live there.
17. During November and December 2017 the Council’s housing team tried to assist Mr X to find alternative accommodation. Mr X did not attend appointments it arranged for him and refused to provide relevant information to assist the Council to identify suitable alterative accommodation. In early January the Council wrote to Mr X to say it was still willing to assist him but if he had not been in touch it would end the housing benefit claim at the end of January 2018.
18. In January and February 2018 the Council was in touch with the landlord’s agent, which confirmed it had tried to contact Mr X about alternative accommodation and had offered him a flat very close by. It said Mr X refused to speak to them and refused to accept letters sent by recorded delivery.
19. Mr X contacted the Council in February 2018 to ask how it would assist him with the costs of moving. The Council replied in early March that it would pay the deposit on a studio flat and asked him to make an appointment with the housing team to discuss this. Mr X did not do so and continues to live in the flat.
20. Mr X also says the Council was aware the flat was not suitable for rent as a self contained flat before he moved there and should have prevented the landlord from renting it to him. The Council has provided records to show it did inspect the flat in February 2017, which was prior to Mr X moving there in May 2017, but it did not consider emergency action was needed because the tenant was moving out. It was seeking information with a view to taking formal action when it became aware Mr X had moved there.

Housing benefit

21. Mr X applied for housing benefit when he moved into the private rented flat in May 2017. The records show he initially asked the Council to pay this directly to his landlord because he did not have a bank account.
22. Council records show it did attempt to pay housing benefit directly to Mr X for the period 21 August to 2 October 2017. It issued a cheque but Mr X was not able to cash this because he still did not have a bank account. Mr X returned the cheque to the Council in early December 2018.
23. In September 2017 the Council wrote to Mr X to say housing benefit would, in future, be paid directly to a bank account and asked him to provide bank account details. Mr X confirmed he would open an account with the post office.
24. Also in September 2017 the landlord informed the Council there were rent arrears of eight weeks or more. The Council wrote to Mr X to say under housing benefit rules it would now need to pay the housing benefit directly to the landlord. It paid the housing benefit for the period 21 August to 2 October 2017 to the landlord in early November 2017.
25. In early January 2018 the Council wrote to Mr X to say it would end his housing benefit claim at the end of the month. It wrote again in early February 2018 to say the housing benefit had been suspended because it was aware of a change of circumstances that affected his entitlement. The change of circumstances was that it expected Mr X had now found alternative accommodation and moved out of the flat. Payment resumed in early March 2018.
26. The Council says there was a further suspension in May because a letter sent to Mr X at the flat was returned. Payment resumed in early June 2019.

Complaints handling

27. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to act about the infestation and disrepair in October 2017. The Council did not respond. Mr X complained to us and we asked the Council to respond to the complaint in June 2018. The Council did not respond to the complaint.
28. The Council has apologised for not responding to the complaint. It says it prepared a draft response but omitted to send it to Mr X. It suggested this may have been because more than one team was involved in the matter so it was unclear who would send it.

My findings

Infestation and disrepair

29. The Council inspected the flat the day after Mr X reported infestation and disrepair. The Council officer was concerned about the size of the flat and, after a formal inspection in mid September, decided the flat was not suitable for Mr X to live in. The Council issued a Prohibition Order that prevented the landlord from letting the property as a self contained flat once Mr X moved out.
30. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council decided the flat was not suitable and a Prohibition Order should be issued.
31. The Council did not take further action about the infestation or disrepair because it did not find evidence of ongoing infestation and it had decided the flat was not suitable for Mr X to live in. It’s housing team tried to assist Mr X to find suitable alternative accommodation and communicated with the landlord’s agent about this on his behalf. Mr X did not engage with the team.
32. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council assisted Mr X to find suitable alternative accommodation.
33. The Council was aware the flat was very small shortly before Mr X moved there and was making enquiries with a view to taking formal action. It was not in a position to prevent the landlord renting the flat to Mr X in May 2017. It was not at fault.

Housing benefit

34. There is no record the housing benefits were suspended in September 2017. The Council did write to Mr X at that time to say that future payments would need to be paid directly to his bank account. At the time, Mr X did not have a bank account but he told the Council he would open one.
35. Also in September 2017 the Council wrote to Mr X to say it would pay his housing benefit directly to the landlord because the landlord had told it he was eight weeks in arrears. Mr X asked how he could be in arrears when housing benefit had been paid direct. This appears to be because the Council had sent him a cheque for the period 21 August to 2 October 2017, which he had not cashed. This means the rent was not paid for this period at least. The Council later paid the housing benefit for this period directly to the landlord. It was not fault for the Council to pay the housing benefit directly to the landlord in these circumstances.
36. Council records show it warned Mr X his housing benefit would be stopped if he did not contact it by the end of January 2018. This was because it was expected he would move to alternative accommodation and make a fresh claim.
37. Housing benefit was suspended again in May 2019 due to post being returned to the Council and payment was resumed once it was clear Mr X was still living in the flat.
38. It is not fault for the Council to suspend payment whilst it makes enquiries about a possible change of circumstances.

Complaints handling

39. The Council did not respond to Mr X’s complaint in October 2017 nor did it respond in June 2018 when we asked it to do so. The failure to respond to the complaint was fault. This fault caused Mr X time and trouble pursuing his complaint with us.

Agreed action

40. The Council will, within one month of the date of the final decision, apologise to Mr X for not responding to his complaint and for the time and trouble pursuing a complaint to us.
41. The Council will, within three months of the date of the final decision, review its complaints process to ensure that where the complaint involves more than one team there is a designated person who has oversight of the process and ensures a response is sent.

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Final decision

42. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault leading to personal injustice. I have recommended action to remedy that injustice and prevent recurrence of the fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman