Summary: The Council failed to take a homelessness application from Miss B when she was threatened with homelessness. As a result, she was not provided with suitable temporary accommodation and was not able to join the Council’s housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss B and establish if she has missed out on any properties as a result of the fault. If she has missed out on a property, the Council will offer Miss B the next available suitable property. The Council has also agreed to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council has wrongly refused to accept her applications to join the housing register and has failed to properly consider the supporting medical evidence she has provided. She also complains that the Council placed her in unsuitable accommodation when she was homeless.
2. Miss B says that as a direct result of the Council’s failings, she remains living in unsuitable accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. 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

6. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council has provided; and
• given the Council and the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

The law and government guidance

Homelessness

7. 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.
8. Every person applying for assistance from a council stating that they are or are going to be homeless will require an initial interview. If there is reason to believe that they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the housing authority must carry out an assessment to determine if this is the case, and whether they are eligible for assistance. If the applicant is not eligible for assistance or if the authority is satisfied that they are not homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, they must be given a written section 184 notification of the decision reached. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 11.3)
9. Housing authorities are required to notify applicants of the assessments they have made, and also provide written personalised housing plans. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 11.24)
10. Council must give proper consideration to all applications for housing assistance, and if they have reason to believe that an applicant may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, they must make enquiries to see whether they owe them any duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act. (Homelessness Code of Guidance, paragraph 9)
11. A council must secure interim accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. (Housing Act 1996, section 188 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 13.3)
12. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless, it will owe them the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)
13. Under the main housing duty, councils 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. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17)
14. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of his or her household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
15. Applicants can ask a council to review its decision that the accommodation offered is suitable. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202 and Homeless Code of Guidance 19.3)

Housing allocations

16. The Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme sets out the rules for qualifying to join the Housing Register, how applicants are prioritised and how the Council manages the allocation of available properties.
17. The scheme introduced in January 2023 places applicants in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band D (lowest priority). It says Band A will be awarded where the applicant is owed a duty under part 7 of the Housing Act 1996, due to being not intentionally homeless and having a priority need for accommodation. It says Band B will be awarded when the applicant needs to move on medical grounds.
18. The previous scheme awarded Band 2 to homeless applicants and applicants needing to move on medical grounds. It placed applicants in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority).
19. In both schemes, the award date is the date on which a higher priority band applies. It is used to prioritise between applications within the same band.
20. Applicants whose circumstances do not warrant inclusion in any of the bands are considered to have no housing need and do not qualify to join the housing register.

Key events

Homelessness complaint

21. In November 2021, Miss B approached the Council for help with her housing situation. She said she had been served with a section 21 eviction notice by her landlord. The Council’s homelessness team asked Miss B to provide a copy of the notice and said that it would then work with her landlord to see if she could remain in the property.
22. Miss B did not provide a copy of the section 21 notice. In May 2022, the Council’s homelessness team decided to close her case because it had not had any contact with Miss B since November and she had not responded to its telephone calls.
23. Miss B then contacted the Council. She said that she had tried to make contact with the Council several times but her calls had not been returned. Miss B explained that she was being evicted and needed housing. The Council decided to reopen Miss B’s case.
24. The Council then contacted Miss B’s landlord’s agent who advised that they had issued a section 8 eviction notice which was due to expire on 31 May 2022. The agent said that once it expired, they would be applying for an order of possession.
25. The Council told Miss B to call back on 30 May to arrange temporary accommodation.
26. When Miss B contacted the Council on 30 May, it told her to attend the office of a housing provider which provides supported accommodation for vulnerable adults. Miss B did so and she was provided with a room in a hostel.
27. Miss B sent a message to her caseworker that day to say the room was not suitable. The message was not immediately picked up because the caseworker was on annual leave.
28. Miss B attended the Council’s offices on 24 June and showed the caseworker photographic evidence of the poor housing conditions. She asked to be placed in female only supported accommodation in a specific area of the city and she explained that she could not share toilet facilities due to a medical condition. The Council was unable to find anywhere which met Miss B’s requirements.
29. The Council continued to look for alternative accommodation for Miss B. On 5 July it referred Miss B to another housing provider who had a room available but it was in an area where Miss B said she did not feel safe. The Council told Miss B that she did not have a priority need and she needed to accept the accommodation offered. After visiting the accommodation, Miss B refused it as she considered it to be unsuitable.
30. Miss B then made a formal complaint to the Council. She said that she had been placed in accommodation which was unsuitable for her mental and physical health. She said she needed accommodation closer to family as she needed their support.
31. In the Council’s response, it explained that there was limited temporary accommodation available and it was not always possible to meet every citizen’s requests and needs. It noted that Miss B had not provided any evidence to support her claim that it was not safe for her to live in certain areas of the city.
32. Miss B contacted the Council again on 30 August and said that she had been asked to leave her accommodation. The Council referred Miss B to another supported accommodation provider who offered Miss B an ensuite room. Miss B has been living there since 30 August 2022. She does not consider it is suitable.

Housing register complaint

33. Miss B applied to join the Council’s housing register in December 2021. She provided a letter from her Community Psychiatric Nurse which said that Miss B’s accommodation issues were affecting her mental health.
34. The application was assessed in February 2022. The Council decided that Miss B did not have a recognised housing need and so did not qualify to join the housing register. Miss B requested a review of the decision in March.
35. In July, Miss B complained about the Council’s decision to close her application. In the Council’s response, it said that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register because she had not provided any evidence which demonstrated a direct link between her accommodation and a medical condition. It explained that the evidence provided must demonstrate deterioration in the medical condition which is caused by the accommodation, or that the current property severely restricts or otherwise impacts on the applicant's ability to live in the property.
36. In October, the Council considered the request Miss B had made in March for a review of its decision that she did not qualify to join the housing register. It decided to close the review because Miss B had moved address and so her circumstances had changed. It advised Miss B to submit a new application.
37. Miss B submitted another application that day, along with further supporting evidence. The Council considered the application but decided again that the evidence provided did not demonstrate that her accommodation was having a direct impact on her health, and so she did not qualify to join the housing register.
38. Following our involvement, the Council reviewed its decision and decided Miss B qualified for a Band B medical award. It backdated the award date to 29 November 2022, six weeks after she submitted her application in October.

Analysis

39. There was no fault in the way the Council decided that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register in February 2022. I am satisfied that the Council considered all the relevant evidence before it reached its decision.
40. The Council took over 32 weeks to carry out a review of the decision that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register. This was fault. Government guidance suggests eight weeks as a reasonable timescale for completing reviews.
41. When Miss B approached the Council in May 2022 and her landlord’s agent confirmed that she was being evicted that month, the Council should have taken a homeless application. It did not do so; this was fault.
42. The Council had reason to believe Miss B was threatened with homelessness and so it had a duty to make enquiries to see whether it owed her a duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act. It did not do so; this was fault.
43. The Council also had reason to believe Miss B had a priority need and so it had a duty to secure interim accommodation. It did not do so; this was fault. The accommodation offered to Miss B was offered by an external housing provider; the Council had not accepted that it had a duty to secure interim accommodation for Miss B.
44. The Council’s records show that after Miss B signed the licence agreement for the room she was offered in May, it decided she was not homeless. But it failed to write to Miss B with its decision or tell her about her right to request a review of the decision. This was fault.
45. I have considered what would likely have happened if there had been no fault by the Council. If the Council had taken a homeless application in May 2022 as it should have done, and considered the information it held about Miss B’s mental and physical health, I consider it would have accepted a duty to Miss B and it would have placed her in suitable temporary accommodation. Once the Council accepted a duty, Miss B would have qualified to join the Council’s housing register and she would have been awarded Band 2. This would have increased to Band A when the new housing allocations scheme was introduced in January 2023.
46. If there had been no fault by the Council, I consider it likely that once the Council had completed its enquiries, it would have accepted the main housing duty to Miss B. She would then have had the right to request a review of the suitability of her accommodation.
47. I consider it likely that Miss B has been living in unsuitable accommodation since May 2022. I consider she would have been placed in suitable temporary accommodation if there had been no fault by the Council, and she may have been offered permanent accommodation by now. The Council’s failings also caused Miss B significant distress which affected her mental health.

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Agreed action

48. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Apologise to Miss B for the failings identified in this case. The apology should be made in accordance with our guidance on apologies.
• Pay Miss B £1500. If there had been no fault in this case, the Council would have owed Miss B the main housing duty and it would have had a duty to ensure suitable accommodation was available for her. This payment is to recognise that the accommodation Miss B has been living in since 24 May 2022 is unlikely to have been suitable.
• Offer Miss B suitable accommodation and make a payment of £100 for each full month between 30 August 2023 and the date she is offered suitable accommodation (temporary or permanent).
• Pay Miss B £500. This is a symbolic sum to recognise the significant distress Miss B suffered as a result of the Council’s failings.
• Increase Miss B’s housing priority. Miss B already has a Band B medical award. The Council will also grant Miss B a Band A exceptional need award (Miss B would have qualified for Band A if the Council had accepted the main housing duty to her). Her registration date will be backdated to 24 May 2022 and her award date will be backdated to 17 January 2023, when the new housing allocations scheme came into effect and all applicants with a Band 2 homeless award were moved to Band A.
• Provide evidence to show whether Miss B would likely have been offered a property if she had been awarded Band 2 between 24 May 2022 and 16 January 2023, and Band A since 17 January 2023. This should include evidence to show the types of properties Miss B has been bidding on, and details of all properties of that type advertised in her preferred areas since 24 May 2022, along with the award date and priority band of the successful applicant. If any properties were offered to applicants with less housing priority than Miss B, the Council will offer Miss B the next suitable property she bids on. The Council does not need to provide this evidence if Miss B has already been provided with permanent accommodation.
49. Within eight weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Investigate why the Council’s records show that officers believed a ‘not homeless decision’ had been made on 6 June 2022, but a decision letter was not sent to Miss B. It should then take action to ensure this does not happen again.
• Discuss this case with the officers involved to ensure they are aware of the failings identified and to prevent similar failings in future.
• Remind officers dealing with approaches from people requiring housing assistance that they must consider whether there is reason to believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, and where there is, they must make enquiries to see whether they owe them any duty under Part 7 of the Housing Act.
• Remind officers dealing with approaches from people requiring housing assistance that they must consider whether there is reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need, and where there is, they must secure interim accommodation.
50. The Council has accepted that it has ongoing delays in processing and reviewing housing applications. It has provided us with an updated action plan which shows the action it has taken and continues to take to reduce delays in dealing with housing applications and review requests.
51. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

52. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman