Summary: The Council was at fault for not moving Ms X to suitable temporary accommodation sooner. As a result, she spent longer than she should have in unsuitable accommodation. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, make a payment to acknowledge the time she spent in unsuitable accommodation and look at what it can do to increase its supply of temporary accommodation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council placed her into accommodation which was unsuitable for her family’s needs for a long period of time.

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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 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)
3. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (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. As part of this investigation I considered the complaint made by Ms X and the Council’s response. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information received in response. I sent a draft of this decision to Ms X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

Law and guidance

6. 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.
7. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, 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. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
8. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
9. A council must secure accommodation for applicants and their household if it has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This is called interim accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 188)
10. If, having made inquiries, the council is not satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible, and in priority need, it will have no further accommodation duty.
11. If a council is satisfied an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need 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)
12. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty, but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
13. The law says councils must ensure all accommodation provided to homeless applicants is suitable for the needs of the applicant and members of their household. This duty applies to interim accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
14. 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)
15. Councils should avoid using bed and breakfast accommodation. It should only be used as a last resort in an emergency and then for the shortest time possible. (Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraph 17.24 and from 3 April 2018 17.30)

What happened

16. In early 2020, Ms X and her child applied to the Council as homeless. The Council provided them with interim accommodation in a hostel, owned and managed by the Council. Ms X and her child shared a room and shared cooking and bathroom facilities with other residents.
17. In April 2020, the Council decided it owed Ms X the main housing duty. Ms X remained in her interim accommodation and this became temporary accommodation as the Council owed her the main housing duty. Ms X said the Council told her it was trying to move her into suitable longer term temporary accommodation.
18. Between June 2020 and April 2022, Ms X sent several emails to the Council asking for updates on when she would be moved. The Council responded to say Ms X was on the list for longer term temporary accommodation but it could not provide Ms X with a timescale for when she could move due to the severe shortage of temporary accommodation.
19. In March 2023, Ms X complained to the Council about the time she had spent in the hostel. Ms X said the accommodation was not suitable for her and her child. Ms X explained her child was finding it difficult to share the communal facilities and the accommodation was too far from their school. Ms X also raised issues about anti-social behaviour from other residents. Ms X asked if the Council could move her to another council area where her child’s school was as the travel times were causing the family significant difficulties.
20. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in April 2023. The Council explained due to the short supply of temporary accommodation it would unlikely be able to move Ms X in the short term. The Council said it considered Ms X was a priority household to move but due to the supply issues of accommodation the Council was facing, it could not confirm when it could move Ms X. The Council said it could refer Ms X to another local authority but it was unlikely it would accept her application.
21. Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint at the next stage. Ms X said other households had moved out of the hostel who had been living there for a shorter time that she had.
22. The Council provided its final response to Ms X’s complaint in May 2023. The Council said:
• It should have referred Ms X’s application to the council area she asked for following the stage one response. The Council apologised to Ms X.
• It did not consider other households had been moved ahead of Ms X into alternative temporary accommodation. The Council provided details of all households who had moved from the hostel and reasons for the move. This showed others had not gone into alternative temporary accommodation.
• It was seeking to move Ms X but could not tell her when this would be due to the shortage of homes available. The Council explained other residents were in this situation.
23. Ms X remained dissatisfied and complained to the Ombudsman. The Council offered Ms X longer term temporary accommodation in November 2023, and she moved into this in early December 2023.
24. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had not carried out a review of the suitability of Ms X’s accommodation following her complaint. The Council recognised this would have been appropriate given the concerns raised by Ms X about the time she had lived in the hostel and the distance from her child’s school. The Council also confirmed Ms X was on the temporary accommodation transfer list for a move and during the time Ms X had lived there is had routinely contacted letting agents to see if there was any availability of properties which were affordable for Ms X.

Analysis

25. When Ms X complained to the Council in March 2023, and raised concerns about the suitability of her accommodation, the Council did not carry out a review of the suitability of her accommodation. This was fault.
26. As Ms X had raised concerns about the time she had spent in the hostel, the impact this was having on her child and the travel distances to her child’s school, the Council should have carried out a review of the suitability of Ms X’s accommodation within 56 days and provided her with a written decision with reasons, and a right of appeal.
27. As the Council did not provide Ms X with a formal decision on the suitability of her accommodation with a right of appeal, I have exercised discretion to consider the case.
28. I have concluded that on balance the hostel accommodation she occupied was not suitable. In reaching this view, I have considered that the Council placed Ms X onto its temporary accommodation transfer list indicating that she needed to move to more suitable accommodation. Given the pressures the Council has mentioned on the availability of temporary accommodation, it seems unlikely it would place applicants on this list unless they needed to move to suitable accommodation. I have also considered the fact that Ms X and her child had to share washing and bathing facilities with other households. As a result Ms X has spent a long time in accommodation which was not suitable for her household.

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Agreed action

29. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Provide Ms X with a written apology for the time she spent in unsuitable accommodation and for not carrying out a suitability review of her accommodation.
• Pay Ms X £2,400 for the time she has spent in unsuitable accommodation since she complained in March 2023.
30. In coming to this figure I have considered the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies which recommends a payment of between £150 and £350 per month for each month spent in unsuitable accommodation. In this case the Council should have carried out a review of the suitability of Ms X’s accommodation in March 2023, therefore I have started the remedy payment from this period and ended it when Ms X moved into alternative accommodation in December 2023. I have decided £300 per month was appropriate given Ms X’s concerns about the accommodation and the living arrangements for her and her child.
31. Within three months of my final decision the Council should:
• Take steps to consider what it can do to identify and increase its supply of temporary accommodation which is suitable for families. The Council should report back to the Ombudsman outlining what it will do to address this shortage.
32. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault and this caused injustice. The Council agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman