Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to meet its housing duties. This is because the Council has agreed our recommendation to provide a remedy to Miss X for part of the complaint. It is reasonable for Miss X to appeal to court about the remaining issues.

The complaint

1. Miss X says she could not attend her interim accommodation because the Council did not provide her with the address. She says the Council then wrongly decided she had refused the offer. Miss X says the Council failed in its duties to provide her with accommodation or keep her updated about her homelessness application.
2. Miss X says the distress caused has worsened her existing health conditions and wants the Council to find her permanent accommodation that she can afford.

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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. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code, Guidance on Jurisdiction, and Guidance on Remedies.
8. I considered the complainant’s comments on my draft decision before making a final decision.

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My assessment

Interim accommodation

9. 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)
10. The Council accepted the relief duty for Miss X on 12 May 2021, meaning it would take reasonable steps to help Miss X secure accommodation that would be available for at least six months. The Council says it offered Miss X interim accommodation during a telephone call and she was due to take up the accommodation on 2 June 2021. Miss X did not attend the accommodation on this date. Miss X contacted the Council on 3 June 2021 and 8 June 2021 to chase up the arrangements for the accommodation. On 10 June 2021, the Council told Miss X that it had treated her failure to attend the accommodation as a refusal and so had withdrawn the offer. The Council decided it had discharged its duty to Miss X to provide her with interim accommodation.
11. The Council did not send Miss X details of the accommodation or its address in writing. The Council did not contact Miss X on the day she failed to attend the accommodation and decided she had refused the offer even though she had been in contact to chase this up.
12. Were we to investigate this complaint, it is likely we would find fault with the way the Council ended its duty to provide accommodation for Miss X. Had Miss X attended the interim accommodation, she could have remained there until 21 July 2021 when the Council decided it did not owe her a housing duty. Instead, Miss X was homeless for this period. Therefore, we recommended the Council offer a remedy to Miss X and it has accepted our recommendation.

Other duties to provide accommodation

13. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of the following decisions:
1. what duty (if any) is owed to them if they are found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness
2. giving notice to bring the relief duty to an end
14. Councils must complete the review within eight weeks of receiving the review request. This period can be extended but only if the applicant agrees in writing. If the applicant wishes to challenge the review decision, or if a council takes more than eight weeks to complete the review, they may appeal on a point of law to the County Court (Housing Act 1996, sections 202 and 204)
15. On 21 July 2021 the Council told Miss X it did not owe her a housing duty as she was not in priority need. On 10 September 2021 it told her the relief duty had ended. Miss X had the right to ask the Council for a review of these decisions. Miss X also had the right to appeal to the County Court following any review. As described at paragraph 5, we will not normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case we have decided not to exercise discretion because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to go to court if she was unhappy with the Council’s decisions. The Council told Miss X about her right to seek a review and to go to court.
16. Miss X says the Council did not keep her updated about her homelessness application. When Miss X complained to the Council she told them she did not receive the letters from the Council dated 21 July and 10 September 2021. I note the Council sent these letters to the same email address Miss X used to submit her complaints to the Council and the Ombudsman. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council communicated its decisions to Miss X about her homelessness application to justify an investigation into this part of the complaint.

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Agreed actions

17. Based on information provided by Miss X about her alternative living arrangements and personal circumstances from 2 June 2021 to 21 July 2021, we recommended the Council takes the following actions:
1. The Council should pay Miss X £400.
2. The Council should improve its housing services by ensuring it puts all accommodation offers in writing and provides maps where possible.
18. The Council accepted and agreed to action these recommendations.

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Final decision

19. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has agreed to our recommendation to provide a remedy to Miss X for part of the complaint. It is reasonable for Miss X to appeal to court about the remaining issues.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman