Summary: Ms Z complained about the way the Council handled her reports of disrepair and noise. As a result, Ms Z said she has lived in accommodation which is in a very poor state of repair. There was some fault by the Council in how it considered Ms Z’s reports but this did not cause her injustice.

The complaint

1. Ms Z complains the Council has not properly responded to the concerns she has raised about the condition of her temporary accommodation and excess noise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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)
4. 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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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated the suitability of Ms Z’s property. Ms Z asked the Council to carry out a suitability review of the accommodation and the Council issued her with a decision with appeal rights. If Ms Z wanted to challenge this further she could have appealed to the courts.
6. I have not looked back at the historical disrepair Ms Z has mentioned in some of her emails. This is because I am satisfied Ms Z could have complained to us at the time about these matters. This investigation focuses on how the Council has responded to Ms Z’s more recent complaints about the condition of her property from 2023 onwards.

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How I considered this complaint

7. As part of this investigation I considered the information provided by Ms Z. I discussed the complaint on the telephone with Ms Z. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information provided in response. I sent a draft of this decision to Ms Z and the Council and considered comments received in response.

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What I found

Law and guidance

8. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need and is not homeless intentionally the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
9. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206) Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability. (Housing Act 1996, section 202) If the Council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the Council must provide suitable accommodation. If the review decides the accommodation is suitable, the applicant has the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, section 204)

Disrepair in temporary accommodation

10. In the first instance, occupiers are expected to report any defects or disrepair in leased accommodation to the landlord or managing agent. Councils should have an agreement with the landlord or agent which sets out the minimum property standards and timescales to deal with responsive repairs, including loss of the heating or hot water supply.
11. If the landlord or agent fails to respond, and does not inspect the property and arrange for works to be done in a reasonable time, the applicant may then contact the Council. The team responsible for managing interim and temporary accommodation should then liaise with the landlord or managing agent to get necessary repairs done and check works have been satisfactorily completed.
12. If there is persistent or recurring disrepair which has not been remedied by the landlord or agent, we would expect the Council to be pro-active and investigate. An officer from the temporary accommodation team may inspect the property with the landlord’s agent to establish the underlying cause of the disrepair and the remedial works required.
13. If there is significant disrepair which requires major remedial works, the Council should consider whether the applicant can continue to occupy the accommodation. In these circumstances, we would expect an officer from the accommodation team to arrange a joint inspection with the landlord or managing agent’s representative to assess the condition of the property and whether the applicant and their household need to be rehoused.

What happened

14. Ms Z lives in temporary accommodation. She has been owed the main housing duty by the Council following a homelessness application.
15. In November 2022, Ms Z asked the Council to review the suitability of her property. Ms Z argued there was significant disrepair in her property.
16. In December 2022, the Council carried out an inspection of the property. The Council found all the windows, except the bathroom were double glazed and the property complied with fire regulations. The Council also found the radiators were warm to touch but there was mould present in the bathroom and lounge. The Council reported the mould to Ms Z’s landlord.
17. In January 2023, the Council sent Ms Z a decision which said it believed her property was suitable. The Council gave Ms Z appeal rights to challenge this decision.
18. In January 2023, Ms Z’s landlord made several attempts to visit her property to carry out a gas safety inspection, electrical check and to look at the mould the Council reported. Ms Z did not allow access to the property.
19. In late March 2023, Ms Z made a complaint to the Council about the condition of her property. Ms Z said the heating system was inadequate causing her to have high energy bills. She also said there was mould and damp which had damaged her belongings and there was excess noise from outside of the property.
20. The Council responded to Ms Z’s complaint in April 2023. The Council said:
• It inspected Ms Z’s property in December 2022 and found mould in the lounge and bathroom which it reported to her landlord. Since this time Ms Z’s landlord has said it has not been able to access the property to resolve the issues.
• It wanted someone from the Council present when the landlord inspected the gas and electrics in the property and other issues Ms Z raised.
• It wanted to inspect Ms Z’s electrics and gas to see why her energy bills were high, however Ms Z refused to allow access for an inspection.
21. In June 2023, the Council attempted to visit Ms Z’s property. Ms Z did not allow the Council access. Ms Z’s landlord also sent her a Notice to Quit to leave the property.
22. Ms Z contacted the Ombudsman in June 2023. After the Ombudsman contacted the Council it agreed to respond to her complaint at stage two of its complaints procedure.
23. The Council sent Ms Z its stage two complaint response in August 2023. The Council said:
• It inspected Ms Z’s property in December 2022 and found some mould in the lounge and bathroom which it reported to her landlord. To date Ms Z’s landlord has been unable to gain access to the property to resolve these issues. The Council said Ms Z sent emails which said she did not trust the landlord or the Council and did not want them to enter her property. The Council said it offered to visit with the landlord during inspections and repair works but Ms Z did not respond to this.
• Ms Z received a Notice to Quit as the landlord wants the property back. The Council said it had a duty to accommodate Ms Z and had been trying to speak with her to complete an assessment so it could move her to alternative accommodation.
24. In November 2023, Ms Z’s landlord tried several times to arrange access to the property for an inspection as her gas saftey certificate was overdue. Ms Z refused to allow the landlord access. The Council also contacted Ms Z by email in November 2023 to carry out a suitability assessment and affordability check so it could move her to alternative accommodation.
25. In February 2024, Ms Z’s landlord tried to arrange to inspect Ms Z’s property so it could look at all of the issues she had raised with the condition of the property. Ms Z refused to allow access.
26. In response to my enquiries the Council said it wanted to move Ms Z to alternative accommodation but had been trying to contact her to carry out an assessment so it could decide what accommodation to move her to, however M Z had not engaged with the Council.

Analysis

27. After Ms Z reported her concerns about the condition of her property and complained in March 2023, there is evidence that her landlord and the Council tried to arrange to inspect the property to assess what works were needed and arrange to carry these out. There is also evidence the Council wanted to accompany Ms Z’s landlord on these visits. Emails between the Council and Ms Z showed that she would not allow the Council access to the property. I am satisfied the Council was not at fault.
28. In relation to Ms Z’s complaints about high energy costs and faulty heating, the Council has attempted to arrange to inspect the electrics and heating, however Ms Z has not allowed access. Therefore I am satisfied the Council was not at fault for how it investigated Ms Z’s concerns.
29. Ms Z also complained to the Council about excessive noise she could hear at the property. It is not clear what the Council did to investigate her concerns about this. This was fault. I do not consider this caused Ms Z injustice as the Council has already agreed to move Ms Z to alternative accommodation following her landlord wanting the property back. The Council has made attempts to engage with Ms Z to assess her circumstances so it can see what property it can offer her, however she has not engaged with the Council.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation and found there was some minor fault by the Council in how it considered Ms Z’s complaint, however this has not caused her injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman