Summary: Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application. We find fault with the Council for delay with the points review, and for sending correspondence to her old address after she told it not to. We have agreed a symbolic payment for the frustration and distress caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her homelessness application after she fled domestic abuse. She complains the Council:
1. Assigned her the wrong number of bidding points on its housing register;
2. Pressured her to accept a private sector house;
3. Continued to write to her previous address, putting her at risk.
2. Miss X wants the Council to recalculate her points to the 900 points she feels she is entitled to.

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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 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)
4. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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 spoke with Miss X and considered the information she provided.
7. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided.
8. I considered relevant law and guidance, as set out below and our guidance on remedies, published on our website.
9. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

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.

Interim accommodation and domestic abuse

11. If a council has “reason to believe” a person may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, then it must provide interim accommodation for them. (Housing Act 1996, section 188).
12. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 changed the definition of “priority need” to include those seeking assistance with homelessness after fleeing domestic abuse. This part of the Act became law on 5 July 2021 and means in most cases, people who are fleeing domestic abuse will be provided with interim accommodation.

Relief duty

13. Where a council is satisfied that an applicant is homeless and eligible for assistance, it is subject to a duty to take reasonable steps to help the applicant secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months. This duty arises regardless of whether the applicant may be in priority need. It does not extend to the authority having to secure accommodation (although it may choose to do so).
14. When a council decides the relief duty has come to an end (usually after 56 days), it must notify the applicant in writing. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

Main housing duty

15. If homelessness is not successfully relieved, the applicant is in priority need and they are not homeless intentionally, the council will owe the applicant a main housing duty (s193(2) of the Act). This means the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This may be social housing or private rented accommodation with a lease of at least 12 months. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)

Interim and Temporary Accommodation

16. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
17. 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)
18. 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)
19. 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 and temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)
20. In reaching a decision on suitability the Council has to consider the space and arrangement of the accommodation and the specific needs of the applicant and any household members due to a medical condition or disability.
21. The duty to provide suitable accommodation is immediate, non-deferrable, and unqualified. (Elkundi, R (On the Application Of) v Birmingham City Council [2022] EWCA Civ 601)

The Council’s allocations policy

22. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14)).
23. Under the Council’s allocation scheme 2018 there is a points based scheme which gives points according to housing needs and additional needs of the household.
24. The Council assesses needs and gives a points total. The parts of the scheme relevant to this complaint are:
• 4.2.1 Threat of homelessness If you are homeless or threatened with homelessness, you will be eligible for 50 points for a period of up to 56 days prior to losing your accommodation and for four months afterwards (no longer than 6 months in total). During this period, you will be offered housing advice to help you decide how to best meet your housing needs. You will be eligible for these points if you have no accommodation you can reasonably occupy;
• 4.2.2 Main homelessness duty You will be eligible for 100 points if you are owed the main homelessness duty under homelessness law;
• 4.4.2 Insanitary or unsuitable housing You will be eligible for 50 points if you share facilities (including bath/shower, toilet and food storage/preparation area if you are not provided with meals) with other people who are not on your housing application and you have dependent children or a pregnant woman living as part of your household (these points are not available for tenants, or in some cases owners, of homes with self-contained facilities).
• 4.6.1 There are two levels of priority for housing and health related needs within this group. Your application will be assessed by the Council’s medical assessment officer (or other authorised medical professional) to determine if you are eligible for health and housing related points.
• 4.6.2 To be assessed as eligible for housing and health related needs points, you must demonstrate that:

• your medical condition is being caused or made worse by your housing conditions, and
• your current property cannot be improved or adapted to meet your needs at a reasonable cost, and
• rehousing is likely to significantly improve your condition.

• 4.6.4 Category 1 You will be eligible for 500 points if your medical condition and housing circumstances are having a serious impact on your health and wellbeing and you are in urgent need of rehousing.
• 4.6.5 Category 2 You will be eligible for 150 points if your medical condition and housing circumstances are having a serious impact on your health and wellbeing and rehousing would be necessary.
• 4.7.1 The Council places a high priority on community safety and the personal safety of all its residents and we aim to take action against perpetrators of harassment and violence. If you are currently experiencing domestic violence or persistent harassment and you need to move, you may be eligible for the following points (where they are agreed by an appropriate officer):

• If you are fleeing severe harassment or violence and you are in urgent need of rehousing, you will be eligible for 600 points.
• If you are fleeing harassment or violence and rehousing would be desirable, you will be eligible for 75 points.

Fault

25. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether anyone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
26. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone, if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.

What happened

27. Miss X applied to be on the Council’s housing register on 1 November 2023 through an online application form. She gave her address and said she was experiencing harassment and violence from her landlord who was also her ex-partner.
28. On 2 November the Council gave an initial award of 75 points after consideration by the Domestic Violence and Abuse panel.
29. Miss X made an online homeless application on 2 November.
30. On 8 November Miss X contacted a homeless charity who contacted the Council on her behalf, asking the Council to place her in interim accommodation under S188 (see paragraph 17) due to fleeing domestic violence.
31. The homeless charity contacted the Council again on 9 November and the Council offered interim accommodation in a hotel on the same day.
32. The Council accepted Relief Duty on 14 November and accepted the Main Duty on the 24 January 2024.
33. Miss X made a complaint to the Council on the 24 January. She said she was a victim of high-risk domestic abuse and queried the points the Council had awarded her. She said (relating to the Allocations Policy in paragraph 24 above):
• 4.4.2 She has been housed in hotels with no facilities to cook or clean and should have 50 points allocated;
• 4.6.5 She submitted a letter from the NHS and should have been allocated 150 points but she was not awarded any medical points;
• 4.7.1 as she was under high risk domestic abuse, she should get 600 points but was only allocated 75.
34. Miss X also complained the Council pressured her to accept a private rental without providing details of the features, it intentionally delayed the Housing Register award beyond the legal requirement of 56 days, and her Housing Register application was closed and a new one opened with 100 points and no explanation.

Complaint A

35. In the complaint response from the Council it said Miss X’s application was referred to panel for increased harassment and violence points, but as Miss X was in temporary accommodation she would not qualify for the maximum 600 points, even with evidence from the Multi Agency Risk Assessment conference (MARAC).
36. The Council sent Miss X an email on 12 January regarding the medical points on her Housing Register application. There was no decision yet.
37. On 24 January the Council told Miss X it would have sent a letter to her explaining she had not qualified for medical points and the letter would have detailed how to request a review. Miss X told the Council she had not received the letter.
38. On 21 February 2024 the Council sent a health form for Miss X to complete for the stage 1 review. Miss X says she did not receive the form.
39. On 24 January the Council accepted the Main Housing duty so it closed the old housing register application and a new one was automatically created with 100 points. The Council agreed it should have told Miss X of this at the time.
40. The complaint response from the Council said it could not investigate the complaint into the points on the Housing Register as this has a review process. It said it had logged the stage one review.
41. During my enquiries I asked the Council for the stage one and stage two review correspondence. The Council said it had not carried out the reviews.
42. The Council started the review in October 2024, ten months after Miss X asked.
43. In response to my enquiries the Council said as Miss X made the two applications at the same time (Homelessness Application and the Housing Register allocations application), the request for temporary accommodation was “more or less immediate so the effects on the allocations application were inevitable”. The Council’s scheme says applicants under the main homeless duty cannot qualify for certain categories of points.
44. The Council said there was a delay in updating the Housing Register application to show Miss X was in temporary accommodation, so certain categories of points should have ended on 15 November 2023 but went on until 28 November 2023.

Complaint B

45. When the Council sent the Relief Duty letter on 14 November 2023 it also enclosed Miss X’s Personal Housing Plan (PHP) which included details of the self-help scheme. This meant Miss X could look for her own private rented property and the Council would pay the first months rent and the deposit.
46. The PHP, first meeting with the Council and advice from the Council explained all the housing options available to Miss X.
47. Miss X found two properties and sent details of these to the Council on 20 November 2023. Miss X said the Council took too long to respond so she did not get the properties.
48. The Council in response to our enquiries said it had contacted the agents who did not know Miss X was under the self-help scheme. It told Miss X on 23 November.
49. The Council chased the agents on 23 and 28 November and the landlord of one property was on holiday. The agent said it would contact the landlord to see when he would be back.
50. On 1 December the agent said they could not get the landlord on the phone. On 7 December the Council noted the high rent and said Miss X would have to cover the shortfall.
51. The Council sent Miss X an invitation to view a private sector home on 23 January 2024. Miss X said she had not applied for this property and the Council explained it was a private rental so would not be on the bidding site. It explained the housing options to Miss X again in a phone call and by email on 24 January.
52. Miss X said the property was not suitable due to the location as not near her support network, and the Council did not provide any information about the property. She asked for a suitability review on 10 February 2024.

Complaint C

53. Miss X asked the Council to write to a different address on 28 November 2023 as her violent ex landlord had access to her post. On 15 December she said the Council had written to her previous address again, and provided a different address on the 18 December.
54. The complaint response from the Council said it updated Miss X’s address on the housing Register once Miss X requested it in November, and there was no evidence of it sending letters to her previous address.
55. In response to my enquiries the Council said it sent the letter of response in November to Miss X’s previous address but that was because Miss X had marked this on her application. The Council had no knowledge of any other letters sent in December 2023 and January 2024.
56. I requested copies of all correspondence sent to Miss X. The Council said in February it wrote to Miss X at her previous address due to an automated process as she had updated her address on her application as “no fixed abode”. The system ignores this and addresses letters to the application address. It said this was an error as it should have amended the correspondence address manually.

Analysis

Complaint A

57. Point 4.4.2 of the Allocations Policy is only for pregnant women or applicants with dependant children, so the 50 points do not apply to Miss X.
58. Miss X had fled from domestic abuse but was now living in temporary accommodation so the extra points noted at 4.7.1 do not apply. These points are to help an applicant to move from housing where they are at high-risk of domestic abuse. As Miss X was no longer living at the address where she was at risk, I cannot find fault with how the Council awarded points on the housing register application.
59. When the Council awarded the Main Housing Duty, under 4.4.2 of the allocations policy it should award 100 points. This is what the Council did so I cannot find fault with the Council as it followed its policy.
60. When the Council accepted the Main Housing duty the letter gave details of the new application number. However Miss X was not aware it had closed the old housing register application and a new one was created automatically. This is fault causing Miss X frustration and distress.
61. Miss X provided letters from her GP showing she is on medication relating to the domestic abuse she suffered. This is not related to her housing conditions. The Council would not award medical priority on this basis.
62. The Council asked Miss X to complete a health and disability form which was appropriate action for it to take. Miss X says she did not receive the form but the Council say it was attached to its email and it did receive the completed form from Miss X in November.
63. The Council delayed the review into Miss X’s points. She requested the review in January and the Council started the review in October. This is fault causing frustration and distress to Miss X.
64. When the Council wrote to Miss X in October about the points review, it asked again for evidence. It said Miss X had not sent anything since 24 January 2024. However on the evidence provided Miss X sent the Council an NHS letter in December 2023 and a letter from her GP on 13 February 2024. Miss X says she has sent the same documents to the Council repeatedly and had trouble uploading her documents in October and informed the Council of this. This is fault by the Council causing Miss X frustration and distress.
65. The delay in updating the Housing Register application to show Miss X was in temporary accommodation (see paragraph 45) is fault by the Council but did not cause any significant injustice to Miss X.
66. There was a delay between Miss X filing her applications and being awarded interim accommodation from 1 November to 9 November 2023. This is fault by the Council as Miss X had to get help from a homeless charity before the Council provided the interim accommodation, causing distress to Miss X. The Council should have acted more quickly as Miss X was clear she had to leave due to violence.

Complaint B

67. I do not agree the Council pressured Miss X to accept a private rented property, or there was delay in dealing with the private rental properties she found.
68. There are case notes showing the caseworker explaining all the housing options to Miss X, but the case worker notes she was “fixated on the awarded points”.
69. I also find no evidence of delay in the Council giving Miss X the Main Housing Duty from giving the Relief duty on 14 November 2023 to the Main Duty on 24 January 2024 (see paragraph 14).

Complaint C

70. The Council did write to Miss X at her previous address in February. Miss X says the Council also sent a letter in December which the Council say there is no evidence of.
71. Miss X said she did not get the letter about her medical points or her consent form. These may well have been sent to her previous address.
72. The Council was mistaken in the complaint response when it said there was no evidence of letters being sent to her old address. It could not find the letters until after responding to our enquiries.
73. This is fault by the Council causing distress and frustration to Miss X. I have recommended a symbolic payment to Miss X and a service improvement to ensure this does not happen again.

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Agreed action

74. Within one month of the final decision the Council should:
• Send a written apology to Miss X and for the injustice caused to her by the faults identified. We have published guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended;
• Pay Miss X £250 for the distress and frustration caused;
• Complete the stage one review of points awarded to Miss X if not already done; and
• Advise the Ombudsman what action it has taken to ensure correspondence is sent to the correct address and flag up change of address in domestic abuse cases.
75. I am aware we have made service improvements to this Council on similar cases recently (23007708). It is clear the Council is experiencing issues which the Ombudsman has addressed. I am satisfied the service improvements agreed on the other complaint also address the issues from this complaint, and the Ombudsman will continue to follow up with the Council on any previously agreed service improvements.
76. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

I find fault with the Council for delay in completing a review of Miss X’s points, and for sending letters to her previous address after being advised not to. I have recommended a symbolic payment and a service improvement to ensure this does not happen again.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman