Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about disrepair in a property which Miss X accepted under the Council’s homeless duties. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the private sector flat in a neighbouring authority which she was offered by the Council in 2022. She accepted the tenancy but later it developed a leak which makes it uninhabitable. She wants the Council to resolve the repairs or move her but it says she is now the responsibility of the neighbouring authority.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X was offered a private sector rented flat under the Council’s homeless duty in March 2022. She accepted the offer which was located in another local authority and moved into the property. The Council says the acceptance discharged its duty to Miss X under homeless legislation. She says there were some repair issues from early on but did not report them to the Council. In July a leak started into her flat which has gradually affected a larger area.
6. She reported the leak to the landlords and in September she contacted the Council about the problem and asked for it to resolve it or to rehouse her. The Council told her that it had discharged its duty in March and that this was for her landlord to resolve. It contacted its letting agent to involve the landlord and advised her to contact her own Council (London Borough of Hackney) to have it inspected.
7. Hackney Council’s private sector housing officers investigated her complaints and confirmed that the bathroom was badly affected and that she should be temporarily moved to allow repairs to take place. Miss X says that she was told by Hackney housing authority that she did not qualify for the housing list because she has not been resident for two years. However, it retains a duty towards anyone who presents as homeless within the borough.

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Analysis

8. Miss X was homeless and the Council made her a final offer of accommodation under its homeless duty. The decision under s.193 of the Housing Act 1996 Part Vll allows the applicant to have a review and to appeal against the decision if they believe the offer to be unsuitable. This must be made within 21 days. Miss X did not question the suitability and neither she nor the Council appear to have been aware of a leak until it first occurred in July 2022.
9. By this time the appeal period for unsuitability had passed and the Council retained no homeless duty to her. If she had been placed in temporary accommodation in another borough the duty to repair the accommodation would have remained with the Council. Because this was a final offer and considered suitable Miss X is in the same situation as she would have been had the accommodation been a social housing tenancy. Responsibility for disrepair occurring after the tenancy start would have passed to her new landlord.
10. Because she is in private rented accommodation the Council where the property is located is responsible for ensuring the private landlord complies with disrepair obligations under the Housing Act 2004. Hackney Council sent its private sector officer to investigate and he recommended her to that Council’s housing and homeless team. It is the responsibility of that Council to address any homeless application made by persons within its borough and it should decide if it owes a housing duty to Miss X.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about disrepair in a property which Miss X accepted under the Council’s homeless duties. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman