Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to consider relevant medical information and as a result placed her in unsuitable interim and temporary accommodation between June and October 2023. There was no fault in how the Council considered the medical information Miss X initially provided. However, the Council was at fault for failing to consider medical evidence she later provided and not reassessing the suitability of the interim accommodation at that point. The Council also delayed accepting the main housing duty which delayed Miss X’s right to request a review of the suitability of accommodation. This caused her distress, uncertainty and meant she stayed in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Miss X and backdate her Housing Register application.

The complaint

1. Mr B (a legal advisor) complained on behalf of Miss X that the Council placed her in unsuitable accommodation between June and October 2023. Mr B says the Council failed to properly assess the suitability of the interim accommodation which became temporary accommodation or consider relevant medical information. This meant Miss X remained in unsuitable accommodation for five months which caused distress and uncertainty.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. 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. 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 to Mr B about his complaint and considered information he provided.
7. I considered information from the Council.
8. I considered the relevant law and guidance.
9. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on this draft decision. I considered the comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant Law and Guidance

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. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. This is called the ‘relief duty’. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B).
12. 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).
13. If a council is satisfied someone is eligible, homeless, in priority need and unintentionally homeless, it will owe them the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193).
14. 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).
15. Under the main housing duty, housing authorities must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for the applicant and their household until the duty is brought to an end, usually through the offer of a settled home. (Homelessness Code of Guidance 17).
16. 17.5 of the Code says housing authorities will need to consider carefully the suitability of accommodation for households with particular medical and/or physical needs. Physical access to and around the home, space, bathroom and kitchen facilities, access to a garden and modifications to assist people with sensory loss as well as mobility needs are all factors which they might need to take into account.
17. 17.8 says housing authorities have a continuing obligation to keep the suitability of accommodation under review, and to respond to any relevant change in circumstances which may affect suitability, until such time as the accommodation duty is brought to an end.
18. 17.9 says housing authorities are required to assess whether accommodation is suitable for each household individually, and case records should demonstrate that they have taken the statutory requirements into account in securing the accommodation.
19. 17.10 says housing authorities should be alert to circumstance in which the suitability of accommodation will require more regular review because the applicant’s needs are likely to change.
20. Interim and temporary accommodation can be the same physical property. What changes is the legal duty under which a council provides it. This is important because there is a statutory right to review the suitability of temporary accommodation. This then carries a right of appeal to county court on a point of law. There is no statutory right to review the suitability of interim accommodation.
21. Councils must complete the review within eight weeks of receiving the review request. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202).

What happened

22. In March 2023, Miss X made a homeless application due to overcrowding at her mother’s house where she was living. Miss X notified the Council of her medical conditions and advised she would need a self-contained property because of them.
23. The Council placed Miss X in interim accommodation (A) that month.
24. In April 2023, Miss X complained about the location and shared facilities of the interim accommodation. Miss X said she needed to be closer to her mother who provided daily support.
25. The Council carried out a medical assessment in April 2023 which concluded a self-contained flat was not medically necessary for Miss X.
26. In early May 2023 Miss X complained again about the accommodation and a couple of weeks later Miss X received an offer letter for interim accommodation (B) in another shared facilities unit which was closer to her mother. Miss X was also pregnant at the time and had notified the Council. She provided evidence of her pregnancy the same day she received the offer letter. Miss X moved into interim accommodation B in June 2023.
27. The Council sent Miss X a letter in July 2023 notifying her it had accepted the main housing duty. Interim accommodation B therefore became temporary accommodation. The letter provided Miss X with her right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation within 21 days.
28. In August 2023, Mr B requested the review on Miss X’s behalf.
29. In September 2023 the Council agreed Miss X’s current shared temporary accommodation was unsuitable.
30. In October 2023 Mr B complained on Miss X’s behalf about the Council’s decision to place Miss X in unsuitable accommodation since June 2023 and its failure to provide her with alternative temporary accommodation.
31. The Council made Miss X an offer on an alternative property in October 2023 and her tenancy commenced November 2023.
32. In November 2023 Mr B complained again as the Council had not responded to his stage one complaint.
33. The Council provided a stage one response in December 2023 apologising for not acknowledging or responding to the complaint.
34. In December 2023, Mr B raised a stage two complaint because the Council did not respond to the substantive part of the complaint about Miss X living in unsuitable interim and temporary accommodation.
35. The Council provided a stage two response in February 2024. This also did not address the complaint about unsuitable temporary accommodation.
36. Miss X remained unhappy with the Council’s handling of the complaint, so Mr B complained to us on her behalf.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

37. The Council considered the shared facilities unit to be suitable at the time of the offer for interim accommodation B. This was in line with the Chief Medical Officer’s assessment that a self-contained property was not medically necessary. The Council sought further health information when Miss X requested a review and the outcome was the property was no longer suitable.
38. The Council said there was a delay in accepting the main housing duty. It should have accepted the main housing duty in May 2023, but it did not accept it until July 2023. This delayed Miss X’s right to request a review of the suitability of the accommodation. 
39. The Council has agreed to backdate Miss X’s Housing Register application to May 2023 and pay her £1000 to recognise the distress caused to Miss X by living in unsuitable accommodation for longer than necessary.

My Findings

Assessment of medical conditions

40. There was no fault in how the Council has considered Miss X’s medical conditions before and at the point it offered her interim accommodation B. It considered Miss X’s application and the medical evidence she supplied at the time which did not, at the time include evidence of her pregnancy. There was not fault in how it concluded that a self-contained property was not medically necessary.
41. However, when Miss X supplied evidence of her pregnancy in mid-May, the Council should have considered whether to carry out a re-assessment of the suitability of the interim accommodation. Not doing so was fault. On a balance of probabilities, had the Council carried out the re-assessment it would likely have concluded the property was no longer suitable. Miss X was left in unsuitable interim accommodation for longer than necessary which caused her distress and uncertainty.

Delays to accepting the main housing duty

42. The Council has accepted fault in that it delayed accepting the main housing duty. If the Council had accepted this duty without delay, Miss X could have requested a review of the suitability of accommodation in May 2023. The Council’s outcome of this review would have been July 2023. The Council did not accept the main housing duty until July which delayed Miss X’s review request until August 2023. The outcome of the review was the property was unsuitable. However, the Council did not offer Miss X a tenancy at an alternative property until November 2023. Therefore, Miss X was left in unsuitable temporary accommodation until November 2023. This caused Miss X distress and uncertainty.
43. In response to our enquires the Council offered Miss X £1000. I have decided the Council should pay Miss X £1200. Our recommendation is proportionate to the identified injustice and in line with our guidance on remedies.
44. We have found similar fault with the Council, delaying making a main housing duty decision, on a separate case. The Council has already agreed to provide updates on timescales for making main duty decisions and evidence its progress in reducing delays. Therefore, it does not require a further service improvement.

Complaint handling

45. Miss X’s complaints to the Council clearly outlined her concerns about living in unsuitable interim and temporary accommodation. The Council did not address these at either stage one or stage two. The poor complaint response was fault which caused Miss X distress and uncertainty.

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Agreed action

46. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Miss X and pay her £1200 to recognise the distress of living in unsuitable accommodation between June and November.
2. Backdate Miss X’s Housing Register application to May 2023 as agreed.
3. Apologise to Miss X to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused by its poor complaint responses. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
4. Remind complaint handling staff to ensure they provide responses to all the substantive concerns raised in a complaint.

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Final decision

47. I completed this investigation. I found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman