Summary: Ms X complained about the way the Council handled her request for housing assistance and how it responded to her concerns about the condition of her property. As a result, Ms X lived in a property with repair issues and this impacted her health. We have found the Council at fault for delays in assisting Ms X following her approach for homeless assistance but we have not found the Council at fault for not responding to her requests for help with disrepair. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay £200 to recognise the uncertainty caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the way the Council handled her requests for housing assistance and how it responded to her concerns about the condition of her property.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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

4. As part of this investigation, I considered the information provided by Ms X and the Council. I made enquiries with the Council and considered information received in response. I sent a draft of this decision to Ms X and the Council and considered comments received in response.

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What I found

Law and guidance

5. 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.
6. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. This is called the Prevention duty. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
7. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance says, rather than advise the applicant to return when homelessness is more imminent, the housing authority may wish to accept a prevention duty and begin to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
8. Councils have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (introduced by the Housing Act 2004, Part 1) to take enforcement action against private landlords where the council has identified a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk. If a council considers a category 1 hazard exists in residential premises they must take appropriate enforcement action in accordance with section 5 of the Act. Councils have discretion to take enforcement action if a category 2 hazard is identified.

What happened

9. In 2022, the Council decided it owed Ms X the main housing duty. The Council made Ms X an offer of private rented sector accommodation to end this duty and Ms X moved into this accommodation in summer 2022.
10. From late 2022 until early 2023, Ms X said she had issues with hot water until the boiler was finally replaced. Ms X also said she reported further issues with the condition of her property including about the bathroom and the cooker not working.
11. Ms X said she raised these concerns with the Council who told her there was nothing it could do to help her.
12. In July 2023, Ms X approached the Council for homelessness assistance as she had received a Section 21 notice from her landlord. The Council allocated Ms X a caseworker in late August 2023.
13. In early September 2023, Ms X made a formal complaint to the Council. Ms X complained about problems she had faced with the condition of her private rented accommodation. Ms X also said she had reached out to the Council for help after receiving a Section 21 notice but had not been contacted by her caseworker.
14. The Council contacted Ms X a few days later and carried out a homelessness assessment of her needs. The Council told Ms X it owed her the Prevention duty and would speak with her landlord about the repair issues.
15. In late September 2023, the Council sent Ms X a decision saying it owed her the Prevention duty.
16. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in early October 2023. The Council apologised for the delay responding to her homelessness concerns and told her it had passed her case to its private sector team to consider the disrepair issues.
17. Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint at the next stage in late November 2023. Ms X said she contacted the Council about the disrepair in her property, including the private sector team, but it did not do anything and this caused a decline in her health.
18. The Council provided its final response to Ms X’s complaint in early December 2023. The Council said the only contact it had from Ms X was in June 2023 and this was in relation to her cooker not working. The Council said it referred this to its environmental health team who spoke with Ms X in late June and she confirmed the cooker was working.
19. Ms X remained dissatisfied and complained to the Ombudsman. Ms X said the Council failed to recognise the efforts she made to contact it about the problems in her accommodation.

Analysis

20. When Ms X approached the Council for homelessness assistance in July 2023, it took nearly three months to issue her a decision saying the Council owed her the Prevention duty. This was fault.
21. If the Council had carried out its homelessness assessment sooner and given Ms X the Prevention duty sooner, it could have started to take steps to address the Section 21 notice and issues which caused her landlord to give Ms X this. It could also have explained the Section 21 notice process the landlord had to follow to remove Ms X. This will have caused Ms X uncertainty as she believed she was going to be evicted from her property.
22. In relation to Ms X’s complaints that the Council did not take any action following her reports of disrepair, the Council said Ms X only contacted it in June 2023 about a cooker issue and it had no further records. Ms X has not provided evidence that she contacted the Council to report repair issues at her property. Without further evidence I am satisfied on balance that the Council was not at fault for failing to respond to her concerns about disrepair in her property.

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Agreed action

23. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Ms X for the delays in owing her the Prevention duty.
• Pay Ms X £200 to recognise the uncertainty caused to her as a result of this delay.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation and found there was fault by the Council for the delays in providing Ms X the Prevention duty. This caused injustice. The Council agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman