By training or otherwise, remind relevant staff of the Council’s overarching responsibility of providing temporary accommodation to applicants under the main housing duty. This includes having oversight of the management of the properties where the Council secures the temporary accommodation through a registered provider / property letting agency.Ensure the Council issues formal offer letters including details of the right to seek suitability review of the accommodation, when the Council has to move an applicant from temporary accommodation to new temporary accommodation even in an emergency.Ensure the Council discharges its duty by completing suitability assessments before interim or temporary accommodation is offered to an applicant.•remind relevant staff that where the Council owes or has owed the main housing duty to an applicant, the Council has a duty to protect the applicant’s personal belongings if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged in situations.

The Council agreed that it would remind all staff who carry out reviews of the suitability of temporary accommodation for those who are homeless, of the need for their decisions to clearly state if the Council considered the accommodation suitable or not. Also, that where the Council considered accommodation suitable that it must remind the applicant of their right to seek a further review via the County Court. This followed the Council issuing a confusing decision in this case, where the complainant had asked it to review the suitability of his temporary accommodation.

The Council has agreed to, using this case as an example, issue guidance to relevant staff that clearly sets out the Council’s duties and powers to protect property.