Summary: The Council delayed reviewing the decision it made to discharge its housing duty to Mrs X, and failed to inform Mrs X when it overturned the decision. It did not give Mrs X sufficient priority on its housing register and left Mrs X and her family living in severely overcrowded accommodation for over two years. The Council has recently moved the family to suitable accommodation and it has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council delayed adding her children to her housing application which affected her housing priority. She also complains that the temporary accommodation the Council provided is too small for her family.

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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. 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. 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

Homelessness

5. 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)
6. 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. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17)
7. Applicants can ask a council to review its decision that the accommodation offered is suitable. Reviews must be carried out within eight weeks. (Housing Act 1996, section 202 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 19.23)

The Council’s housing allocations schemes

8. 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 to homeless applicants owed the main housing duty. It says Band B will be awarded when the applicant is lacking two bedrooms.
9. The previous scheme placed applicants in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority). It awarded Band 2 to homeless applicants and applicants lacking two bedrooms. It awarded Band 3 to applicants lacking one bedroom.
10. 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.

Background and key events

11. Mrs X approached the Council when she became homeless. The Council placed Mrs X, her partner and their newborn baby in bed and breakfast accommodation in June 2020.
12. Mrs X also joined the Council’s housing register. She was awarded housing priority Band 2 for homelessness and Band 3 for overcrowding.
13. In September 2020, the Council decided it owed the family the main housing duty. It placed the family in alternative temporary accommodation, a self-contained bedsit.
14. In February 2021, Mrs X requested a review of the suitability of their temporary accommodation. She explained that she was expecting her second child and the bedsit was too small for a family of four.
15. Later that month, the Council offered Mrs X the tenancy of a two-bedroom flat. Its letter explained that if she refused the offer, the Council would consider its duty to her was discharged and it would not make any further offers. It said that she would be able to remain on the Council’s housing register, but she would lose any priority awarded to her because she was a homeless applicant.
16. After viewing the flat, Mrs X refused the offer because she did not consider it was suitable. The Council decided it no longer owed Mrs X the main housing duty because it considered she had turned down a reasonable offer of accommodation.
17. Mrs X’s priority on the housing register changed from Band 2 to Band 3 because the Council removed the homeless priority it had previously awarded.
18. The Council closed Mrs X’s request for a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation. It explained that as she had refused the offer of permanent accommodation, she was no longer owed a housing duty and no longer had a right to request a review of the suitability of the temporary accommodation.
19. Mrs X requested a review of the Council’s decision to discharge its duty to her and she explained why the permanent accommodation offered was not suitable.
20. The Council wrote to Mrs X in July and said that it was minded to uphold its decision to discharge its duty to her. It said that if Mrs X wished to make any comments on the letter, or submit further information, she should do so before 19 August 2021, and it would then complete the review.
21. Mrs X had a second child in May 2021. She sent a copy of her birth certificate to the Council and asked that she be added to her housing application.
22. Mrs X contacted the Council several times asking about the outcome of her review, and why the Council had not added her second child to her application. Mrs X was generally told there was a backlog and to allow more time. Mrs X also asked to be moved to larger accommodation on several occasions. She explained how the living conditions were affecting her mental health.
23. Mrs X had a third child in August 2022. Later that month, she made a formal complaint to the Council that it had not added her youngest two children to her housing application. In the Council’s response, it said that their birth certificates had not been uploaded to her case. It asked Mrs X to upload the documents and said it would then assess her change of circumstances as a priority.
24. Mrs X provided her children’s birth certificates again. She then made a formal complaint in December 2022 that the Council had still not added her two youngest children to her application.
25. The Council assessed Mrs X’s application in January 2023. It added her two youngest children to her application and awarded Band B for overcrowding because it considered they were lacking two bedrooms. It decided to also award Band A for homelessness because its records showed that the earlier decision to discharge its duty to Mrs X had been overturned in July 2022.
26. In June 2023, the Council offered Mrs X alternative temporary accommodation, a room in a homeless hostel. Mrs X did not consider it was suitable; she says it was even smaller than the bedsit. She requested a review.
27. In September 2023, the Council offered Mrs X alternative self-contained temporary accommodation, which she has accepted.

Analysis

28. Mrs X requested a review of the Council’s decision to discharge its duty to her on 11 March 2021. Such reviews should be completed within eight weeks. The Council’s records show that it completed the review and overturned the decision over a year later, in July 2022. This delay was fault. The Council’s records do not explain the reason for the decision and it did not write to Mrs X with the outcome of the review. This was fault.
29. If there had been no fault by the Council here, it seems likely that it would have overturned the decision to discharge its duty to Mrs X sooner, by 6 May 2021. Mrs X would then have qualified for a Band 2 homeless award and she would have had the right to request a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation. If the Council had reviewed the suitability of the temporary accommodation, it would have found it to be unsuitable since May 2021, when Mrs X’s second child was born.
30. The Council says that Mrs X provided evidence of her second child’s birth in June 2021 and her third child’s birth in November 2022. The evidence I have seen suggests that Mrs X provided evidence of her youngest child’s birth in September 2022. The Council did not add either child to Mrs X’s application until January 2023. This delay was fault. If there had been no delays, I consider Mrs X would have been awarded Band 2 for overcrowding in November 2022.
31. Mrs X was in Band 3 from March 2021 and then Band A from 30 January 2023. The Council should have reinstated her Band 2 homeless award by 6 May 2021, and backdated it to her original award date, 24 June 2020. The Council should then have awarded Band 2 for overcrowding in November 2022, and when the Council’s new allocations scheme came into effect in January 2023, Mrs X should have been awarded Band A for homelessness and Band B for overcrowding.
32. The Council failed to properly deal with correspondence from Mrs X, partly due to its poor case records. Mrs X was wrongly told that she needed to await the outcome of the discharge of duty review when the review had already been completed. The Council also failed to carry out a review of the suitability of her temporary accommodation, despite it having reinstated her right to a review, and it having received several emails from Mrs X pleading to be moved to larger accommodation.
33. As a result of the Council’s failings in this case, Mrs X’s family were living in unsuitable overcrowded accommodation for over two years. Mrs X, her partner and three children were all sleeping in the same room in the bedsit. It did not have a separate living area.
34. It is also possible that Mrs X has missed out on the opportunity to move to permanent housing. The Council’s failings have caused significant distress and frustration to Mrs X and her family.

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Agreed action

35. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Apologise to Mrs X for the failings identified in this case. The apology should be made in accordance with our guidance on apologies.
• Pay Mrs X £5500. This payment is to recognise that Mrs X and her family were living in unsuitable accommodation between May 2021 and September 2023.
• Pay Mrs X £500. This is a symbolic sum to recognise the significant distress Mrs X suffered as a result of the Council’s failings.
• Change Mrs X’s housing priority. The Council will amend Mrs X’s Band A award date to 17 January 2023, the date the new housing allocations scheme came into effect and all applicants with a Band 2 homeless award were moved to Band A. Her registration date will remain as 24 June 2020. This is because Mrs X’s Band 2 homeless award should have been reinstated in July 2022 and backdated to June 2020.
• Provide evidence to show whether Mrs X would likely have been offered a property if she had been awarded Band 2 since 24 June 2020, and Band A since 17 January 2023. This should include evidence to show the types of properties Mrs X has been bidding on, and details of all properties of that type advertised in her preferred areas since 24 June 2020, along with the award date and priority band of the successful applicant. If any properties were offered to applicants with less housing priority than Mrs X, the Council should offer Mrs X the next suitable property she bids on.
36. Within eight weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Review its procedures for sharing information between all housing departments, such as the registration team, the temporary accommodation team and the homelessness team. When information is provided to one team, such as evidence to show that the applicant needs to add a child to their application, the evidence will be shared with other relevant teams to action accordingly.
• Remind officers that they should record all decisions and respond to all correspondence.
37. Within twelve weeks of my final decision, the Council will take the following actions:
• Introduce a system to enable the Council to regularly check whether any reviews have not been completed, and that decision letters have been issued. This is to ensure reviews and decision letters are issued within the timescales set out in legislation.
• Review the way it records the status of housing and homelessness applications, so that officers can easily see the status of an application, the date of any review requests and any review decisions.
38. 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.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

40. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs X’s complaint. There was fault 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