Summary: Ms B complains that the Council delayed in carrying out a Housing Health and Safety Rating System inspection of the temporary accommodation it provided her when she was homeless. The Ombudsman finds the Council delayed in completing an inspection which meant Ms B had to live in a property with hazards for longer than necessary. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Ms B in recognition of the injustice she suffered.

The complaint

1. Ms B complains that the Council delayed in carrying out an inspection of the temporary accommodation it provided her under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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

4. I have considered all the information provided by Ms B, made enquiries of the Council and considered its comments and the documents it provided.
5. Ms B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and administrative background

Duties to the homeless and suitability of temporary accommodation

6. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation it arranges for homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household. This duty applies equally to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206)
7. Accommodation is not suitable if it falls below certain minimum standards. The Council must have regard to the standards set out in the Housing Act 2004. The Homelessness Code of Guidance recommends that any accommodation should, as a minimum, be free of Category 1 hazards assessed under the HHSRS.
8. Homelessness applicants may request a review of the suitability of the temporary accommodation provided after the Council has accepted the main housing duty (Housing Act 1996, section 202).
9. If a council reviews its decision but the applicant remains dissatisfied, he or she can then appeal to the County Court on a point of law within 21 days.

HHSRS

10. Private landlords are responsible for ensuring rented accommodation is maintained to a certain standard including carrying out repairs and making sure appliances are safe to use.
11. Councils have powers to deal with disrepair to privately rented properties. When a council has reason to believe there is serious risk to the health and safety of an occupier it must inspect the property (Housing Act 2004).
12. Officers should determine the category of hazards identified in accordance with the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005 (‘the Regulations’). Where a Category 1 hazard is identified, they must take appropriate enforcement action. This may include serving an improvement notice setting out what the landlord must do to stop the hazard. They can also choose to take action with regard to less serious ‘Category 2’ hazards if they think it necessary.

Key facts

13. The Council accepted a homelessness duty to Ms B and, in August 2018, placed her in temporary accommodation owned by a private landlord.
14. Ms B raised issues about the property with her social worker including: damp/condensation; cracks in the wall/ceiling; a mice infestation and dirty communal stairs. The social worker passed this information to the property management team.
15. The team contacted Ms B to arrange an inspection and, on 7 November 2018, officers visited the property. They identified repairs including: a missing banister; no extractor for the cooker; the lounge light having to be on in order for a bedroom light to work; faulty taps; and mould which appeared to be related to leaking guttering.
16. Officers asked the landlord to rectify the problems. He agreed to do so. On 29 November 2018 the landlord told the Council he had tried to contact Ms B several times to arrange an appointment to complete the repairs but this had not been possible.
17. On 30 November 2018 Ms B sent an email to the Council regarding the condition of the property. One of the items she raised was “the electrics are unsafe and pose a category one hazard”. The Council responded stating that Officer X had visited the property and raised repair issues with the landlord.
18. On 13 December 2018 an officer telephoned the landlord to find out what was happening. He said Ms B had still not made contact.
19. The Council completed a suitability review and decided the temporary accommodation was suitable for Ms B. In the review the officer referred to the condition of the accommodation and the issues raised by Ms B including: “the electrics are unsafe and pose a category one hazard”; “the fire alarms are broken in communal areas”; and “mould and damp in the bedrooms”. The review officer stated these repair issues had been referred to the landlord who had said the issues could be resolved but Ms B was not allowing him access to carry out repairs. The officer suggested Ms B contact the landlord to arrange access.
20. On 30 January 2019 Ms B sent an email to the property management team manager, Officer X, headed “request for HHSRS report”. She asked her to forward a request for a health and safety inspection to the environmental health team because she believed there were Category 1 hazards in the property including: mice infestation; electrical safety issues; damp and mould; fire hazards and tripping hazards. She said that the disrepair problems were affecting her health and safety.
21. In February and early March 2019 Ms B complained again to the Council and to the London Fire Brigade about the safety of the property.
22. On 14 March 2019 Officer X sent an email to Ms B arranging to visit the property because she had complained about the landlord’s workmen and the safety of the communal areas.
23. The following day Officer X visited the property with the landlord to identify what works were required but abandoned the inspection saying Ms B was confrontational and abusive and was filming them. Ms B denies being abusive but accepts she was filming the officers. She sent an email the same day stating that, as Officer X had not completed an inspection, she would like the details for the environmental health team to request an HHSRS inspection.
24. On 19 March 2019 Officer X sent an email to Ms B’s social worker stating the team considered Ms B was being deliberately obstructive to officers trying to resolve the issues with the accommodation. Officer X said she would write to Ms B about her behaviour and steps would then be taken to inspect the property and identify any necessary works.
25. On 25 March 2019 the London Fire Brigade contacted the environmental health service requesting a joint visit.
26. An environmental health officer and an officer from the London Fire Brigade visited on 2 April 2019. They inspected the common areas of the property but not Ms B’s flat. They noted issues including: insufficient light in the hallway; a trip hazard on the stairs; and a missing spindle from the banister. The Fire Brigade wrote to the landlord requiring works to be completed by 19 November 2019.
27. On 25 April 2019 an environmental health officer, Officer Y, inspected Ms B’s flat under HHSRS. He identified a Category 2 hazard in relation to electrical issues and two Category 1 hazards: excess cold; and damp and mould. He also identified other issues including a mouse infestation and faulty bathroom taps.
28. Officer Y wrote to the landlord listing the works required and said that, if they were not completed within three months, a formal notice may be served.
29. On 21 May 2019 the Council served an improvement notice on the landlord requiring works to be completed by the end of August 2019.
30. Officer X wrote to Ms B explaining Officer Y was satisfied she could remain in the property while the works were carried out. But, because of previous reports of antisocial behaviour towards the landlord’s workmen, and taking into account that the works could cause some disruption to the family, she had decided to transfer Ms B to alternative temporary accommodation while the works were carried out. She confirmed Ms B was on the waiting list for a transfer and she would contact her when accommodation was found.
31. On 6 June 2019 Ms B made a formal complaint about her housing situation. She said the Council had not provided electrical and gas safety certificates for the property and that, despite making numerous requests to Officer X to organise an HHSRS report, she failed to do so until Ms B contacted the Fire Brigade.
32. On 30 June 2019 Ms B again requested copies of the gas and electric safety certificates.
33. On 3 July 2019 Ms B sent an email to various officers stating she had a copy of what she believed to be a forged gas safety certificate for her flat. Officers confirmed the engineer who completed the certificate was a registered gas engineer. The environmental health officer explained that the engineer had mistakenly recorded the details for Ms B’s flat against a different flat in the block and the details for that flat against Ms B’s flat. The officer had advised the engineer to revisit on 5 July 2019 to rectify the error.
34. Ms B accepted the Council’s offer of alternative temporary accommodation and moved in late July 2019.
35. The Council has confirmed that the landlord completed the required works by the August 2019 deadline.

Analysis

HHSRS inspection

36. There are no grounds to criticise the Council for failing to complete an HHSRS inspection when Ms B first raised repair issues in October 2018 as none of these appeared to be Category 1 or Category 2 hazards under the HHSRS. It was appropriate for the property management team to complete an inspection and ask the landlord to complete the necessary works.
37. In November 2018 Ms B emailed the Council about unsafe electrics which she said were a Category 1 hazard. Although the property management team had already made the landlord aware of various repair issues, there is a separate duty to inspect under the HHSRS Regulations and Ms B’s email put the Council notice that it should complete an HHSRS inspection.
38. Ms B specifically asked for an HHSRS inspection on 30 January 2019 raising concerns about potential category 1 hazards, including electrical safety issues, fire hazards and tripping hazards.
39. The Council did not complete an HHSRS inspection until 25 April 2019. This was fault. Government guidance says that, when a council receives a complaint about housing conditions, it can reasonably prioritise inspections. But it “must” arrange an inspection if alerted to potential category 1 or category 2 hazards. Ms B’s email of November 2018 alerted the Council to potential category 1 or category 2 hazards so it should have arranged an inspection.
40. The HHSRS report refers to “the combined effect of the broken/missing heating system and the poor condition of the windows, keeping this property properly heating [sic] and ventilated to maintain a good level of health would be overly difficult”.  The environmental health officer’s letter to the landlord following the inspection refers to “blown glazing units throughout the flat… The mechanisms are also broken, many of the windows can’t be closed because of this”. It also refers to no heating in one of the bedrooms, the boiler losing pressure and no controls to the heating.
41. Although the property management team completed an inspection on 9 November 2018, they did not identify any of these issues. So, even if the landlord had completed the works identified by the team, the issues identified at the HHSRS inspection, in particular the category 1 hazard relating to excess cold, would still not have been addressed. The Council's delay in completing an HHSRS inspection therefore resulted in Ms B and her family having to live in unsatisfactory conditions (excess cold) for an additional four months.

Gas safety certificate

42. Ms B says the Council failed to provide her with a copy of the gas safety certificate despite numerous requests.
43. Ms B moved into the property in August 2018. She requested a copy of the gas certificate on 6 and 30 June 2019 and received it on 2 July 2019. She then raised concerns about the validity of the certificate but the environmental health officer confirmed the situation and arranged for the engineer to rectify the error.
44. The Council was at fault in failing to provide Ms B with a copy of the gas safety certificate when she took on the tenancy of the property. However, I do not consider the delay in doing so caused Ms B a significant injustice.

Agreed action

45. In recognition of the injustice caused to Ms B, the Council has agreed to within one month of this decision:
• send her a written apology for the fault identified; and
• pay her £600 for living in unsatisfactory accommodation for longer than necessary.

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Final decision

46. I have completed my investigation on the basis that the Council has agreed to implement the recommended remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman