Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to provide a discretionary housing payment to help pay off his rent arrears. He also complains about how the Council has dealt with his homelessness case and its decision to suspend his Devon Home Choice account so he cannot bid on properties. We find fault with the Council for delay in providing Mr X with support and for failing to take reasonable steps to help Mr X secure accommodation. We have made some recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision not to provide a discretionary housing payment to help pay off his rent arrears. He also complains about how the Council dealt with his homelessness case and about the decision to suspend his Devon Home Choice account so he cannot bid on properties

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke with Mr X and considered the information he provided.
6. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided.
7. I sent a draft decision to Mr X and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Legislation, policy, and guidance

8. 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.
9. Relief duty: if the applicant is already homeless, or becomes homeless despite activity during the prevention stage, the council’s reasonable steps will be focused on helping the applicant to secure accommodation. This relief duty lasts for 56 days unless ended in another way. If the council has reason to believe a homeless applicant may be eligible for assistance and have a priority need, they must be provided with interim accommodation.
10. If homelessness is not successfully prevented or relieved, a housing authority will owe the main housing duty (s193(2) of the Act) to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally. Under the main housing duty, housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for the applicant and their household until the duty is brought to an end, usually through the offer of a settled home.
11. The Council is part of Devon Home Choice (DHC). This is a choice-based lettings scheme where applicants bid for advertised properties. Local authority and housing association homes available to let will be advertised. Households with active applications on the Devon Home Choice housing register can look at details of the homes and apply for those they are eligible for. This is called bidding.
12. To be eligible to bid on a property, applicants must join the waiting list. The Council will assess the applicant and place them in one of five bands, from A-E. Band A is for people assessed as having a very high priority housing need and band E is for people assessed as having no housing need. If an applicant is in band E, they cannot bid on properties. 
13. Section 2.6.2 of the Devon Home Choice policy notes that where an applicant has rent arrears of more than £500, and accrued the rent arrears intentionally, they will be placed in the no housing need band (E). ‘Intentionally’ means the applicant deliberately did something (or failed to do something) that resulted in the rent arrears.
14. Section 2.6.4 notes the above sanction will apply until:
• They clear their debt.
• The landlord is satisfied the applicant is entitled to enough benefit to clear the arrears.
• The applicant has shown a clear intention to pay by making payments under an agreed repayment schedule for at least 3 months.
15. The Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) scheme was introduced by the Government in July 2001 so local authorities could provide financial assistance to claimants receiving Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit, when additional help with housing costs was required.
16. The Council has a discretionary housing payments policy which specifies how the Council will run the DHP scheme. The policy notes the overarching objective of the policy is to distribute funding granted under the DHP scheme to prevent homelessness. This will be achieved by providing short term relief to claimants to give them time to find more sustainable solutions to their financial arrangements.
17. Section 12 of the policy notes that an award of DHP does not guarantee a further award at a later date even if the claimant’s circumstances have not changed. It highlights that if at the time of the initial award it is considered that the accommodation is inappropriate, the claimant will be advised to look for alternative ways of alleviating the hardship. This includes finding more affordable accommodation.

What happened

18. In January 2021, Mr X applied for a discretionary housing payment as he had rent arrears of around £3000. Mr X told the Council he could not work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council asked Mr X for supporting documents, which he provided to the Council at the end of February 2021. The documents showed there was a shortfall between the family’s Universal Credit income and their rent liability.
19. In March 2021, the Council spoke with Mr X to discuss his situation. During this discussion, Mr X told the Council he was reluctant to downsize as he wanted his children to keep their own bedrooms. The Council advised Mr X it would refer him to a debt advice service. Mr X’s rent arrears was now around £4300.
20. At the end of March 2021, the Council decided to make a DHP award to Mr X. The Council awarded Mr X a lump sum of £3750 to clear three months of his rent arrears. The Council also agreed to make 13 payments of £150 a week, between April and July 2021. This was to help with the shortfall between Mr X’s income and rent liability. The payment went directly to Mr X’s landlord.
21. The Council sent Mr X its decision letter outlining the award in April 2021. In this letter, the Council made it clear that a second award was not likely and that if Mr X found his rent was still unaffordable in July 2021, he needed to find cheaper accommodation. The Council also said it could help Mr X with rent in advance and/or deposit to enable a move.
22. In June 2021, the Council received correspondence from the debt advice service detailing Mr X’s situation. The debt advice service noted Mr X was still in arrears and that he had not been paying anything towards the rent. In response, the Council confirmed it would be reluctant to make a further award to clear Mr X’s rent arrears. The Council noted Mr X’s tenancy was too expensive for him.
23. In July 2021, Mr X contacted the Council and asked to speak with a housing officer as he had received a notice asking him to leave the property in October 2021. The case records suggest the Council tried to contact Mr X back in the beginning of August but could not reach him. Mr X contacted the Council back but then did not hear from the Council.
24. Mr X contacted the Council again in September 2021. The Council assigned Mr X a housing officer, who asked Mr X to provide a copy of his notice and some other documents. The Council chased Mr X for the documents two weeks later and told Mr X if he did not provide the documents, it would close his case. Mr X did not provide the Council with the documents.
25. At the end of October 2021, the Council assigned Mr X a new housing officer and a new homeless application was taken. The Council said it accepted the relief duty towards Mr X at this point.
26. In January 2022, Mr X was evicted from his accommodation. The Council ended the relief duty and accepted the main housing duty. The Council placed Mr X and his family in temporary accommodation.
27. Mr X’s housing officer established with Mr X’s landlord that his rent arrears were just over £11500 and there was no repayment plan agreed with Mr X. The housing officer explained to Mr X that due to the outstanding arrears, he could not bid on DHC as he his housing application would be registered as housing need Band E.
28. Mr X’s housing officer asked the discretionary awards team whether it would consider providing Mr X with another DHP to clear his rent arrears to allow him to bid on properties through DHC. The service declined to provide Mr X a further award as it had told Mr X, in April 2021, that he needed to find alternative accommodation if his financial position did not improve. The service said its previous DHP award gave Mr X the opportunity to find somewhere new. The service confirmed it could help with rent in advance and a deposit.
29. In April 2022, the Council asked Mr X to speak with his landlord to set up a repayment plan to clear his rent arrears. The Council said this would allow him to bid on properties on DHC. The Council told Mr X to look for private rental properties and reiterated it could help Mr X with the deposit and rent up front.
30. The Council also asked Mr X to complete some forms and to contact a landlord about some three-bedroom properties that were available. The Council warned Mr X that failure to do this would amount to a breach of his licence agreement.
31. Mr X did not contact the landlord as requested and the Council sent Mr X a warning letter about a breach of his licence agreement. The Council noted Mr X was not engaging in processes to help him move from temporary accommodation to independent living.
32. In May 2022, the Council discussed with Mr X the reason why he did not contact the landlord. The Council told Mr X to keep looking for private rental properties. The Council sent another warning letter about a breach of the terms of Mr X’s license agreement. This letter noted there would be no further warnings if there were any more breaches. The Council also advised Mr X it would discharge the main housing duty which end the Council’s duty to accommodate him.

Analysis

Discretionary Housing Payment

33. DHP is discretionary. This means the Council is not obligated to provide it but can choose to award DHP after consideration of a claimant’s circumstances. The Council does have a policy which details what the Council will take into account when considering a claim. The policy gives the Council wide discretion to decide when to award a DHP.
34. Evidence shows the Council provided Mr X with a DHP in March 2021. This award cleared three months of rent arrears for Mr X and provided ongoing assistance to help meet the shortfall for 13 weeks.
35. We satisfied this award was in line with the Council’s policy as the DHP did prevent Mr X from becoming homeless and it provided Mr X with short term relief to give him time to find cheaper accommodation.
36. The records showed the Council was clear with Mr X that if his financial situation was not likely to improve by July 2021, he should look for cheaper accommodation. The Council was also clear with Mr X that a second award of DHP was unlikely. Mr X also told us the Council did tell him he needed to look for cheaper accommodation.
37. The Council’s policy is clear that an award of DHP does not guarantee a further award, even if the claimant’s circumstances have not changed. The Council considered whether to provide Mr X with a further DHP in January 2022. However, the Council decided not to award this as it was satisfied it provided Mr X with clear advice that he needed to look for cheaper accommodation. The Council also noted that for Mr X’s rent arrears to have built back up to just over £11500, this meant it was likely Mr X had paid nothing towards his rent since the DHP was awarded in March 2021.
38. There is clear evidence the Council has considered whether to provide a further DHP to Mr X. The Council has outlined and given clear reasons for why it has declined to do so. Therefore, the Council was entitled to make its decision. While we note Mr X is disappointed with the negative decision, we cannot find fault with the Council’s decision just because Mr X does not agree with it.

Suspension of Devon Home Choice account

39. DHC policy is clear that where an applicant has rent arrears or more than £500, and where the Council is satisfied these arrears have been accrued intentionally, they will be placed in Band E. Applicants with Band E are not able to bid on properties.
40. The evidence shows Mr X has rent arrears of just over £11500. The evidence also shows the Council considered the arrears were accrued intentionally as it acknowledged that for Mr X to have built up such a large arrears, it was unlikely he had paid anything towards his rent since the DHP was awarded in March 2021.
41. Further, Mr X has not provided any evidence to the Council to show he has any intention to pay the arrears. For example, Mr X could have entered into a repayment agreement with his landlord. If Mr X made payments for at least 3 months, this would have allowed him to bid on DHC. The Council told Mr X this in April 2022.
42. Therefore, the Council’s decision to prevent Mr X from bidding on DHC properties is in line with policy.

Homelessness

43. Records showed Mr X first approached the Council to speak with a housing officer about concerns about being made homeless in July 2021. Although the Council struggled to get in touch with Mr X, records showed Mr X returned the Council’s call. Despite this, the Council took no action to contact Mr X until September 2021. This is a significant delay, and the Council has not provided any rationale for the delay. Therefore, this is fault.
44. I consider the fault identified caused Mr X some distress. This is because he should have received support from the Council much earlier than he did.
45. After Mr X contacted the Council again in September 2021, the records showed the Council asked him to provide some documents (including a copy of his notice). The Council was clear with Mr X that if he did not provide the required documents, his case would be closed. There is no evidence Mr X provided the documents to the Council. Therefore, there is no fault with how the Council dealt with Mr X’s case in September as it could not progress without the documents.
46. The Council allocated a new housing officer in October 2021 and accepted the relief duty. Under the relief duty, the Council must take reasonable steps to help Mr X secure accommodation. There is no record the Council took any reasonable steps to help Mr X secure accommodation between October 2021 and January 2022. At this stage, this is fault.
47. The Council appears to have already acknowledged this fault as it apologised to Mr X for the lack of support in January 2022. We are satisfied the fault identified has caused some uncertainty. This is because I cannot say whether Mr X would have secured accommodation between October 2021 and January 2022 if the Council had appropriately provided support. The fault also caused Mr X some distress as Mr X did not receive the support he should have when he was facing homelessness.
48. There is no fault with the action the Council took with Mr X’s homelessness case between January and May 2022. The Council appropriately told Mr X of its acceptance of the main housing duty and has continued to provide Mr X and his family with temporary accommodation. This is in line with the law.
49. Further, it was appropriate for the Council to warn Mr X when he was in breach of the terms of his licence agreement and the potential consequences should he continue to breach the terms of the agreement.

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Recommended action

50. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following:
• Apologise to Mr X for the distress and uncertainty caused by the faults identified.
• Pay Mr X £200 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused by the faults identified.
• Remind relevant staff of the Council’s duty to take reasonable steps to help an individual secure accommodation when it has accepted the relief duty.
51. The Council should complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.

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Final decision

52. I find fault with the Council for delay in providing Mr X with support, and for failing to take reasonable steps to help Mr X secure accommodation. The Council has accepted my recommendations. Therefore, I have completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman