Summary: Ms X complains about how the Council handled her homelessness and housing applications when she fled domestic abuse. Ms X complains the Councils actions caused further distress and uncertainty. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for how it communicated with Ms X about her applications. The Ombudsman also finds fault with the Council for how it communicated about personal data, medical assessments and for the Councils complaint handling. The Council has agreed to pay a financial remedy and make The service improvements.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has failed to provide the support she was entitled to when she was homeless.
2. Ms X complains the Council gave her misleading information about her application and would not provide answers about how her application was being handled. This resulted in the Council failing to provide support and offering unsuitable accommodation.
3. Ms X complains Council officers asked her for her personal data, but the Council has not been able to answer how this data was used or whether it still has it.
4. Ms X complains the Council also mishandled her application for housing benefit, which resulted in her incurring costs.
5. Ms X complains the Council has failed to recognise its maladministration and the impact this has had on her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

6. 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)
7. 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

8. I considered Ms X’s complaint and information she provided. I also considered information from the Council.
9. I considered comments received from Ms X and the Council on a draft of my decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

Homelessness

10. 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.
11. Someone is threatened with homelessness if, when asking for assistance from the Council on or after 3 April 2018:

• he or she is likely to become homeless within 56 days; or
• he or she has been served with a valid Section 21 notice which will expire within 56 days. (Housing Act 1996, section 175(4) & (5))

Assessments and personal housing plans

12. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance says, rather than advise the applicant to return when homelessness is more imminent, the housing authority may wish to accept a prevention duty and begin to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan (PHP). (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)

Prevention duty

13. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help them to secure their current accommodation In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

Relief duty

14. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

Main housing duty

15. If a council is satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Suitability of accommodation

16. 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 homelessness duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and (from 3 April 2018) Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
17. Councils must consider the location of accommodation when they consider if it is suitable for the applicant and members of their household. If a council places an applicant outside its district, it must consider, among other matters:

• the distance of the accommodation from the “home” district;
• the significance of any disruption to the education of members of the applicant’s household;
• the proximity and accessibility to local services, amenities and transport. (Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation) Order 2012)

Review rights

18. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of a decision about the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted. Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer. Applicants can then request an appeal on a point of law to the County Court.

What happened

19. Ms X lived with her mother in a Council property.
20. In March 2021, Ms X approached the Council due to domestic abuse from her mother.
21. The Council provided Ms X with temporary accommodation while it assessed her homelessness application.
22. As part of her application, the Council issued Ms X with a Personal Housing Plan (PHP).
23. Ms X also applied for the Councils housing register.
24. As part of application, Ms X sought a medical assessment. She also advised the Council she was a carer for her mother and needed to remain within one hour’s travel. Additionally, a safeguarding referral was sent to the Council about the abuse Ms X was experiencing from her mother.
25. The Council carried out a medical assessment of Ms X. The medical assessment did not award Ms X more points on the housing register, but it did recommend that any properties offered should be on the ground floor.
26. The Council arranged for Ms X to view a property. Ms X advised the officer the property was a fourth-floor property, and this was not in line with her medical assessment.
27. Ms X continued to communicate with the Council about her PHP and potential viewings.
28. As part of the viewing process, the Council referred Ms X to a third-party agency who would support her in the private rented sector. A Council officer asked Ms X to send a picture of herself to have viewings.
29. The Council emailed Ms X in June 2021 and proposed to change her PHP.
30. Ms X declined the Council’s changed PHP, as the way the Council had written it could be read as a new PHP, instead of an amended PHP. Ms X felt the Council were trying to change her PHP and start a new homelessness application with less choices for housing.
31. Ms X continued to communicate with officers about her concerns for the PHP. The Council also advised Ms X that she was not eligible for the housing register as she did not qualify for enough points. Ms X asked for a review of this decision, as she felt the Council had not properly considered the medical assessment and safeguarding referral.
32. The Council told Ms X it could not carry out a review of her points. The Council gave Ms X multiple reasons for being unable to carry out a review.
33. The Council offered Ms X a property within one hour of her mother. Ms X viewed the property and accepted the property. The Council discharged its housing duty to Ms X and closed her case. It wrote to her to say that as she had now accepted a property, it would close her request for a review of the points for the housing register.
34. When Ms X moved into the new property, her housing benefit for the temporary accommodation ended. The Council wrote to Ms X to tell her it had made an overpayment in housing benefit as the claim had not been dated until after she moved out. It then wrote to her to say that it had cleared some of the overpayment, and the rest had been collected from her rent account.
35. Ms X complained to the Council about how it had handled her applications, how it had communicated with her and how it handled her data.
36. At stage one the Council said

• “letting agents will occasionally ask for photographic identification prior to viewing invitations, to verify the identity of clients. However, this would be in the form of formal photographic identification and not a ‘selfie’. I am sorry if there was any misunderstanding with regards to what you were being asked to provide”.
• “Any viewings that are attended can lead to a property offer but are not offers in themselves. The definition of an ‘offer’ for a property is when a landlord has agreed to provide a contract to be signed by a client. I apologise if this was not previously made clear to you”.
• The Council also recognised poor communication between officers and Ms X and apologised if Ms X felt bullied by officers.

37. Ms X was unhappy with the response and asked to escalate her complaint to the chief executive.
38. In the response from the Chief executive, the Council apologised for the delay in responding.
39. The response also accepted that it could not consider some points of Ms X’s complaint due to the officers no longer being responsible. The response also accepted that some parts of the communication towards Ms X’s could be seen as bullying and cause her distress.
40. Ms X made a further complaint about the issues in October 2021. The Council told Ms X on multiple occasions to expect a response, however she did not receive one.
41. Ms X remained unhappy with the Councils actions and bought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Homelessness application and housing register

42. As part of my enquiries, I asked the Council for its communication with Ms X about her homelessness application and her application to the housing register.
43. I have reviewed the communication between Ms X and the Council. The continuing communication is unclear and often gives Ms X conflicting information about her applications. Ms X then had to spend significant time trying to understand the information she was being given.
44. From the communication provided, the Ombudsman could not determine the process and information which the Council was asking Ms X to follow. Therefore, it is understandable that Ms X was also could not understand the Councils actions and what it was asking of her.
45. I uphold Ms X’s complaint the Council did not provide clear and consistent information about her applications. This includes her request for a points review and the amendments to her PHP.
46. It was clear from Ms X’s communication from the Council that she was feeling vulnerable and stressed due to the abusive nature of her living circumstances. The poor communication and conflicting information from the Council caused Ms X further distress at a time that was already difficult for her.
47. However, the Council housed Ms X in temporary accommodation. When the Council accepted a full housing duty, it offered Ms X suitable accommodation that she accepted. I do not consider the Council left Ms X at risk at any point.

Medical assessment

48. Ms X at first had a medical assessment that said she needed a ground floor flat, however, she was offered viewing for properties that did not fit these criteria. Ms X says this left her feeling even more distressed.
49. The Council records show that Ms X’s previous address was used when completing the medical assessment, not her temporary accommodation. This may have contributed to why it was not on file for her viewings, however the process for this is unclear and was poorly communicated to Ms X. This was fault by the Council causing Ms X further distress and uncertainty.

Personal data

50. Part of Ms X’s complaint is that officers asked for personal photos of her and her personal bank statements. The Council has not been able to find out what happened with the photos. In its complaint response, the Council accepted it did not know why the photos were requested.
51. Ms X says she was worried that her personal details and photos could be used to commit identity fraud if it was not clear why this was being requested or where it was stored.
52. In response to my enquiries, the Council has confirmed it uses photos to ensure the person on the application is the person who undertakes the viewings. It also confirmed that Ms X’s photos are no longer on the system.
53. The Council should have been more transparent with Ms X when communicating what information it was requesting of her, and the reasons for this. It should have addressed her concerns as part of the complaints process.
54. I find fault with the Council for how it handled this part of Ms X’s complaint. This has caused Ms X further distress and uncertainty.

Housing benefit

55. I have reviewed the communication between Ms X and the Council about her housing benefit claim.
56. The Council did not process the change in housing benefit until 9 days after Ms X moved out of temporary accommodation. This is what caused the overpayment.
57. The amounts the Council communicated to Ms X changed several times, and it was unclear to Ms X how this had happened, what amount she owed, and how it would be collected.
58. I find fault with the Council for how it communicated with Ms X about the change in Housing Benefit, which added to the distress caused to Ms X.
59. However, Ms X did not suffer any financial injustice because of the Councils actions.

Complaint handling

60. Ms X first complained to the Council in July 2021. She received a response in August 2021.
61. Ms X escalated this to the Chief Executive complaints process. This offered Ms X £75 for the delay in the response and acknowledged that she had been caused distress by some of the communication from officers.
62. Ms X made a new complaint in October 2021 and was told several times she would receive a response.
63. Ms X chased the response several times but was never given a response. The response is still outstanding despite the Ombudsman’s investigation.
64. I find fault with the Councils complaint handling of Ms X. It has caused unnecessary delay, and further distress to Ms X. The Councils complaint response fails to show how it considered any injustice and distress caused to Ms X.

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Agreed action

65. Within 4 weeks the Council has agreed to

• Apologise to Ms X for the fault identified
• Pay Ms X £400 in recognition of the distress caused.
• Pay Ms £150 in recognition of the time and trouble caused to her and the delay in not responding to her complaint.

66. Within 12 weeks the Council should

• Review whether the Council needs to develop information for homelessness applicants to outline what information, including photos, may be requested.
• Review how it will ensure that complaints which are escalated receive a timely response.
• The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

67. I have now completed my investigation. I find fault with the Council for how it communicated with Ms X about her homelessness and housing applications. I also find fault with the Council for how it communicated with Ms X about her personal data and medical assessments. I also find fault with the Council for its complaint handling.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman