Summary: Ms X complains about unresolved disrepair and inspections undertaken in her temporary accommodation. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. Reported disrepair made by Ms X was not satisfactorily resolved until February 2024, demonstrating a long period of delay and inaction; this is fault. We have not found fault for inspections undertaken at Ms X’s accommodation, as the evidence does not demonstrate that such frequency, or unannounced visits are not otherwise permitted. The Council has accepted our recommendations.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has failed to carry out repairs to her temporary accommodation. Ms X also complains the Council conducts regular inspections of the accommodation which impacts her right to enjoyment of her tenancy. Ms X would like the Council to undertake the necessary repairs and to stop the inspections.

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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. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended).
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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 liaised with Ms X and considered the information she provided. I also made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided in response. Ms X and the Council were offered the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I considered any comments that were submitted before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Temporary accommodation

7. 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 suitable accommodation is available for their occupation. But there is no duty on councils to provide a permanent secure or assured tenancy. Usually, a council will arrange temporary accommodation for the applicant until it makes a suitable offer of social housing or privately rented accommodation.

Hazards and disrepair

8. The legal duty lies with the Council to ensure the applicant is in suitable accommodation which is free from disrepair or hazards. The Council is responsible for the actions of providers of temporary accommodation because they are acting on its behalf.
9. Accommodation is not suitable if it falls below certain minimum standards. The Homelessness Code of Guidance recommends that any accommodation should, as a minimum, be free of “Category One” hazards assessed under the Housing Health and Safety Rating system (HHSRS). A category one hazard is a hazard that poses a serious threat to someone’s health or safety, such as excessive cold, damp and mould.
10. The Housing Act 2004 sets out councils’ duties and powers to address hazards in residential properties in their area. Where a council, for any reason, considers it would be appropriate to inspect a property to determine whether any hazard exists, it must arrange an inspection. If a council considers a category one hazard exists it must take the appropriate enforcement action. If there is a category two hazard, the Council has the power to take enforcement action.
11. Enforcement action includes serving an improvement notice which instructs the owner what work must be done to put the property right. If the owner does not do the work, the Council can do the work in default and charge the owner the cost of this.
12. In relation to disrepair, in the first instance, occupiers are expected to report any defects to the landlord or managing agent.
13. Councils should have an agreement with the landlord or agent which sets out the minimum property standards and timescales to deal with responsive repairs.
14. If the landlord or agent fails to respond and does not inspect the property and arrange for works to be done in a reasonable time, the applicant may then contact the Council.
15. If there is persistent or recurring disrepair which has not been remedied by the landlord or agent, we would expect the Council to be proactive and investigate. The team responsible for managing temporary accommodation should liaise with the landlord or managing agent to get necessary repairs done and check works have been satisfactorily completed.

My enquiries to the Council

16. As part of my investigation, I made enquiries to the Council. Of note:
• I asked it to evidence reports of disrepair made by Ms X, and action from either the Managing Agent A or the Council to resolve the issues raised. In response, the Council said Managing Agent A has been unable to verify a clear timeline of events. Managing Agent A says it has been unable to access reports made by Miss X dating back to when she first raised the issues and as such it has not been able to provide full context around the delay in works being completed.
• I asked it whether the repairs have now been completed, and the Council confirmed as per an inspection report undertaken in February 2024, all the repairs were completed.
• I asked the Council whether inspection visits were carried out every 8 weeks as stated by Ms X, and the Council confirmed this was correct.
• I asked the Council for any relevant guidance or policy regarding such disrepair in temporary accommodation. The Council said it did not have any guidance or policy covering this, and that all repairs are the responsibility of the managing agent and not the Council.

Discretion to investigate

17. Events in this complaint date back to October 2021. Normally, the law only permits us to investigate matters within a 12 month period, with the 12 month period running from the day the person affected had notice of the matters alleged in the complaint. However, the Ombudsman has discretion to widen its investigation, where for example, it may not have been reasonable for the complainant to have come to us within 12 months. In this instance, the threshold to exercise the Ombudsman discretion has been met, this is because it is evident, given the intermittent actions described below, that Ms X would have believed action was being taken on the complaint by the Council or its contractors over the period of time complained about.

What happened

18. Part of Ms X complaint centres around unresolved disrepair that she reported to Managing Agent A and the Council over a period of time. It is important to note, as per paragraph 16, I have not been able to obtain a clear chronology of events in this complaint from the Council. I have included, where the evidence allows, a summary of some of the key events below as per comments and evidence received by the Council. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that took place.
19. Ms X moved into her temporary accommodation in October 2021. Later in October 2021, Ms X informed the Council of several issues present in the property, including a leak in the bathroom, mould, problems with the shower and a missing shower blind. The Council has confirmed it was aware of such issues from October 2021.
20. Managing Agent A says the shower was reported on an inspection dated July 2022 and that issues surrounding the shower were due to misuse. Following further reports of issues with the shower, it was replaced in January 2024.
21. Managing Agent A says heaters were replaced in November 2021. However, noise from the heaters was reported on an inspection in April 2022 and advised to replace in November 2023. The heaters were then replaced in January 2024.
22. Managing Agent A says electrical faults were reported on an inspection in January 2023 and a new hob was ordered in November 2023. The hob was replaced in February 2024.
23. As per the inspection report undertaken in February 2024, Managing Agent A confirmed all the outstanding reports of disrepair were resolved.

Analysis

Resolving disrepair in the accommodation

24. The evidence demonstrates that Ms X’s reports of disrepair date back as early as October 2021. I have not been able to accurately determine the length of delay for each of Ms X reports of disrepair; this is because as per paragraph 16, Managing Agent A nor the Council have been able to provide a clear timeline of events. What the evidence does demonstrate is a period between November 2021 – February 2024 of the disrepair being resolved intermittently. From this, we can deduce that resolving the matters has at times, often been impacted by significant delay.
25. The Council accepts that there has evidently been a lack of follow up on these matters to establish a clear resolution to the repairs reported over a long period of time, and here I have made a finding of fault. Delay in resolving the disrepair reported by Ms X has resulted in Ms X living in accommodation that was not up to the expected standard.

Frequent inspections

26. Ms X complained that inspections were being undertaken frequently, impacting her right to enjoyment of the accommodation, every eight weeks.
27. I have reviewed the occupancy agreement that Ms X signed with the Council which states ‘The council has the right for its personnel, or the personnel of its managing agents, to carry out unannounced property visits to my accommodation, in order to check occupancy and standard of the accommodation, or carry out emergency repairs.’.
28. The Council confirmed Managing Agent A, as part of their internal processes, inspect their housing stock approximately every 8 weeks to ensure occupancy, any disrepair and general health and safety matters. The Council also says that alternative providers have similar processes, by where inspections are carried out anywhere between 4-8 weeks dependent on any particular circumstances.
29. The Council made enquiries with Managing Agent A about reducing the frequency of the inspections at the request of Ms X, but Managing Agent A asserted that these were mandatory as part of their process.
30. I have not found fault with the frequency of the inspections undertaken at Ms X’s accommodation. The Council asked Managing Agent A whether it would reduce the frequency of such inspections, and it declined, within its right. Whilst I acknowledge these are likely to disturb and be inconvenient to Ms X, I have not seen evidence that inspections every 8 weeks, nor unannounced visits are not permitted, or are otherwise out of the ordinary.

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Agreed action

31. When a Council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them.
32. As per our guidance on remedies, where a complainant has been deprived of suitable accommodation, our recommendation for financial redress can be up to £350 a month, but we may recommend a higher monthly amount in cases where the injustice is exceptional or particularly severe. In this instance, I do not consider that the injustice on Ms X has been exceptional or particularly severe.
33. Further, the evidence demonstrates that whilst Ms X reported disrepair as early as October 2021, some of the issues were resolved intermittently throughout events in this complaint and up to confirmation in the inspection report in February 2024. As such, I do not consider it is appropriate to apply a remedy multiplier for every month between October 2021 – February 2024, but rather to look wholly at events in this complaint and the absence of the repairs being resolved over a long period of time.
34. Considering the above, and details further set out in this complaint, the Council has agreed to:
1. Pay Ms X an amount of £1,300. This is to acknowledge the impact on Ms X of unresolved disrepair between October 2021 - February 2024, which meant that Ms X continued to live in temporary accommodation that at times was not suitable.
2. Establish a standardised policy between it, and all managing agents responsible for resolving disrepair. The policy should set out clear service level agreements for work to be completed and give the Council oversight over the presence of reported disrepair, and the completion of works. It is expected that such a policy would prevent similar occurrences where the Council has a lack of oversight over reported disrepair and can proactively take action to resolve any delay.
35. Action point a will be completed within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision and action point b within three months of the Ombudsman’s final decision.

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Final decision

36. I have concluded my investigation having made a finding of fault. Reported disrepair made by Ms X was not satisfactorily resolved until February 2024, demonstrating a long period of delay and inaction; this is fault. I have not found fault for inspections undertaken at Ms X’s accommodation, as the evidence does not demonstrate that such frequency, or unannounced visits are not otherwise permitted. The Council has accepted our recommendations.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman