Summary: Miss D complained about how the Council handled her housing situation. She says it treated her unfairly and unreasonably told her she would have no choice but to accept its offer of privately rented accommodation. She also says the Council delayed dealing with the property disrepair issues. We find the Council was at fault for failing to properly explain the property disrepair process and for its delays in dealing with Miss D’s complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

The complaint

1. Miss D complained about how the Council handled her housing situation. She says it treated her unfairly and unreasonably told her she would have no choice but to accept its offer of privately rented accommodation. She also says the Council delayed dealing with the property disrepair issues.
2. Miss D says the Council’s faults have caused her financial difficulty and she had to repeat a year of university due to the stress of living in such terrible conditions.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated Miss D’s complaint from June 2020 onwards. I have not investigated her complaint before this date for the reasons explained at the end of this statement.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
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(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from Miss D. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
7. Miss D 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

Homelessness

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities sets out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
9. Councils must take reasonable steps to secure accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is the relief duty. When a council decides this duty has come to an end (usually after 56 days), it must notify the applicant in writing. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
10. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved, a council will owe the main housing duty to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
11. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
12. Homeless applicants may request a review of the suitability of accommodation offered to them after a homelessness duty has been accepted. Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer. This review request should be made within 21 days of being notified of the offer.

Housing health and safety rating system

13. Private landlords are responsible for ensuring that rented accommodation is maintained to a certain standard. This includes carrying out repairs and making sure appliances are safe to use.
14. Councils have powers to deal with disrepair to privately rented properties. The law says when a council has reason to believe there is serious risk to the health and safety of an occupier it must inspect the property.
15. The housing health and safety rating system (HHSRS) is a tool used to help councils identify and protect against potential risks and hazards to health and safety.
16. The HHSRS assesses 29 categories of housing hazard. Each hazard has a weighting system which will help determine whether the property is rated as having category one (serious) or category two (other) hazards.
17. If the assessment finds a category one hazard, councils have a duty to serve a notice to the landlord to address the hazard. If the assessment finds a category two hazard, councils have discretion about whether to take formal action.

The Council’s complaints procedure

18. The Council aims to respond to complaints at stage one and stage two within 20 working days.

What happened

19. This chronology provides an overview of key events in this case and does not detail everything that happened.
20. Miss D approached the Council for assistance with her housing after she became homeless. The Council accepted it had a duty to help her secure suitable accommodation in February 2020. Miss D and her family moved into interim accommodation.
21. The Council found a privately rented property for Miss D in July. It inspected the property, assessed Miss D’s finances, and decided it was suitable for her. It wrote to her on 15 July and offered her the property. It also told her she had a right to request a review within 21 days if she disagreed the property was suitable.
22. Miss D accepted the property. The Council wrote to her on 26 August and said it was ending its housing duty towards her. It said she could request a review of its decision within 21 days.
23. Miss D contacted the letting agent and made it aware of various issues in the property. She also copied some of her emails to the Council.
24. The Council emailed the letting agent in September and asked it to deal with Miss D’s issues. The letting agent said it would contact the builder.
25. Miss D updated the letting agent and the Council at the end of September and said the issues remained.
26. The Council inspected the property on 12 October. It identified several issues the letting agent had to resolve. The letting agent said it had asked a builder to attend the property.
27. Miss D emailed the Council and the letting agent on 1 November. She said she was still waiting for a response. The letting agent responded and provided Miss D with the builder’s number.
28. Miss D contracted COVID-19 a few days later and so the builder could not attend the property.
29. Miss D emailed the Council in December and said there were still outstanding issues with the property.
30. The Council emailed Miss D on 17 December and said if she wished to make a complaint, she could complete its service request form.
31. Miss D completed a service request form on 2 February. She said she had sent loads of emails to the letting agent and the Council about the property disrepair issues, but nothing had been resolved.
32. The Council inspected the property on 9 February. It identified several disrepair issues.
33. Miss D spoke to the Council on 19 April. She said she wanted to complain it put her in a property that was not fit for purpose.
34. Miss D confirmed on 21 April all the works were complete, apart from the painting in the bathroom.
35. Miss D complained again to the Council on 14 and 15 June. She said it told her she had no choice to move to the privately rented property. She also said the property was filthy and in a state of disrepair when she moved in, and the Council had failed to resolve the issues.
36. The Council responded to Miss D’s complaint about the property disrepair issues on 14 July. It said when it received her service request form on 2 February, it inspected the property and asked the letting agent to complete the works. It said it did everything it could to resolve the issues.
37. The Council responded to Miss D’s other complaint on 6 September. It said she did not ask for a review of the suitability of the accommodation even though she had opportunities to. It said it was not at fault in discharging its duty by offering her a suitable property.
38. Miss D remained dissatisfied with the Council’s responses. The Council met with her on 22 October to discuss her complaint. She said there were still numerous issues with the property, and it was unsuitable for her family.
39. The Council issued the stage two response to the complaint on 23 November. It said if she was still having issues with the property since its inspection and the letting agent had not resolved them, she could complete a service request form. It apologised for the delay in responding to the complaint and offered her £100 for her time and trouble.
40. The Council contacted the letting agent and asked it to resolve Miss D’s further issues. The letting agent replied and said it has asked for information from Miss D in July, but she had not provided it. It also said it had not been able to get in contact with her.
41. The letting agent contacted the Council in January 2022 and said it was liaising directly with Miss D about the remaining issues.
42. Miss D contacted the Council again about her complaint and said some of the repairs were outstanding. The Council responded on 21 January and said the letting agent had struggled to get hold of her to resolve the remaining issues. It told her to contact the letting agent urgently. It also said it had identified some service improvements after her experience. It said it would ensure officers talked to customers about any issues after they had moved in, and it would also ensure customers understood what its remit was. It said it would allow her to bid for properties on its housing allocations scheme until the property disrepair issues were resolved.
43. Miss D remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and referred her complaint to the Ombudsman.

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Analysis

44. Miss D says her privately rented property is unsuitable for her family. She also says the property was filthy and in a state of disrepair when she moved in, and the Council gave her no other choice but to accept it.
45. The Council inspected the property and was satisfied it met HHSRS standards. It decided the property was suitable. It also gave Miss D two opportunities to request a review if she disagreed with its decision.
46. Miss D did not ask for a review. She says it was because she was busy dealing with a house move. I appreciate Miss D may have been dealing with other things, but the correct course of action was for her to request a review if she was unhappy with the property, or she did not believe it was suitable. This would have allowed the Council the chance to complete a detailed review.
47. Miss D refers to a telephone call she had with an officer. She said the officer told her she would have no choice but to move and if she did not, she would be forcibly removed. As I do not have a recording of this telephone call, I cannot make a finding on this part of Miss D’s complaint. I have however read the correspondence the Council sent to Miss D about its offer. It told her if she refused its offer, she would be asked to leave her temporary accommodation. The Council is legally allowed to end its main housing duty towards a homeless household if they refuse an offer of suitable housing. Therefore, it was not at fault for telling Miss D the implications of refusing its offer.
48. With regards to the ongoing repair issues, the Council contacted the letting agent in September 2020 and asked it to resolve the issues. It also inspected the property in October 2020 and asked the letting agent to complete the repairs. I note the inspection was not under the HHSRS, but instead as part of the Council’s pilot scheme.
49. There was a short delay with the builder being able to access the property because Miss D had COVID-19. After she had recovered, she told the Council the works had still not been completed. The Council told Miss D on 17 December 2020 to complete its service request form and provide evidence of her attempts at contacting the letting agent. She did not do so until 2 February 2021. After this date, the Council acted quickly and was in regular contact with the letting agent to resolve the issues.
50. Although the Council acted appropriately to resolve the issues after February 2021, I find its communication with Miss D about its role and whether it would take action to be fault. Miss D continued to copy the Council into emails about the property disrepair issues after 17 December 2020 until she completed the service request form on 2 February 2021. The Council did not explain to her in any of these emails it would not re-inspect the property or take any further action until she had completed the service request form. It was aware the issues had been ongoing for a while without resolution, and therefore it should have been clearer in its correspondence with Miss D about the process. This has caused Miss D some uncertainty as to whether the issues would have been resolved sooner if the Council acted without fault.
51. Miss D raised further disrepair issues in October 2021 when the Council met with her to discuss her complaint. However, she had not raised these with the letting agent. The Council correctly advised her to raise the issues with the letting agent, and then if it failed to deal with the issues, she could complete a service request form. This is the correct approach, and so I do not find fault.
52. The Council apologised to Miss D for the delays in responding to her complaint and offered £100 for her time and trouble. I agree the Council was at fault for its complaints handling but I do not consider its remedy properly reflects Miss D’s injustice. I consider £200 to be a more appropriate remedy given my findings in paragraph 50 of this decision statement. This is line with our guidance on remedies. I also recommend a service improvement to prevent recurrence of the identified fault.

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Agreed action

53. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 25 August 2022 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss D.
• Pay Miss D £200.

54. By 22 September 2022:

• Issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure customers are properly informed about the process when they have a complaint about property disrepair in privately rented accommodation.

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Final decision

55. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss D an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

56. The Ombudsman cannot investigate late complaints unless there are good reasons to do so. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done.
57. Miss D refers to issues from 2019 in her complaint, but she did not refer her complaint to us until January 2022. I have exercised discretion to investigate Miss D’s concerns from June 2020 onwards because she raised her complaints in April and June 2021 and then had to wait a significant time for the Council’s final response. However, I am satisfied Miss D could have bought her earlier concerns to us much sooner and so I have not exercised discretion to investigate them.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman