Summary: Ms X complains about unresolved disrepair in her property. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. Due to unresolved disrepair at the property pertaining to mould and damp issues, Ms X was living in unsuitable accommodation until she was moved in June 2024, this is fault. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about unresolved disrepair in temporary accommodation she and her daughter, Y, are living in. Ms X says that as a result of the disrepair not being resolved, she and her daughter have lived in damp and mouldy conditions since for a significant period of time. Ms X would like the repairs to be completed or to be moved to alternative temporary accommodation, and a remedy awarded by the Council to acknowledge the impact on her and Y.

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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 an opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

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.

Discretion to investigate

16. Ms X alleges that events in this complaint date back to September 2020. 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’s discretion has been met,
17. It is evident that the matters concerning disrepair in Ms X’s property remained ongoing and therefore it is understandable that Ms X would have at times thought, or even expected that action would be taken by either the Council or Managing Agent to resolve the disrepair throughout this time. This would mean that although Ms X could have brought her complaint sooner, it was not necessarily practical to do so. However, it is not proportionate for the period of complaint to run from the very first instance that Ms was aware, and so I am to limit the scope of the investigation to the 12 months prior to Ms X making a formal complaint to the Council.

My enquiries to the Council

18. As part of my investigation, I made enquiries to the Council. Of note, I asked it provide a chronology of events, and 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 confirmed in an email in February 2024 that internal repairs had been completed but that underlying structural defects remained.
• Managing Agent A requested that Ms X be moved as a result, and Ms X was allocated alternative accommodation in June 2024.
• The Council has no record of historical reports of disrepair.
• The Council provided a brief chronology of events since Ms X moved into the temporary accommodation.

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What happened

19. Ms X’s complaint centres around unresolved disrepair that she reported over a period of time. It is important to note, as per paragraph 18, 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 and Ms X. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that took place.
20. In February 2020, Ms X is allocated interim accommodation at Property A, pending completion of homelessness enquiries.
21. In April 2020: Ms X's homelessness application is accepted. She continues to reside at Property A under Section 193(2) main duty to accommodate.
22. In September 2021, an email is sent from Housing Support to the Council’s Temporary Accommodation team highlighting disrepair in the property. The Temporary Accommodation team advised that disrepair should be reported to the Managing Agent. It is not specifically stated what the issues concerned.
23. In March 2023, Ms X formally complained to the Council regarding ongoing disrepair at Property A. In her correspondence of complaint, Ms X asserts that it is her fifth time attempting to resolve the issue, and that she has called and sent emails to the Council weekly, to no avail.
24. In April 2023, the Council responded with an action plan and recommendations to address Ms X’s reports of damp/mould. This included:
• Apply damp proof paint and finish with an oil-based paint in all areas affected with surface mould and condensation.
• Supply and fit new window seals, replace damaged ones with new.
• Remove wallpaper, replace with new and paint.
25. In August 2023, Ms X contacted the Council chasing an update, as the proposed recommendations had not been carried out.
26. In November 2023, a property inspection is carried out by a Council officer, identifying underlying structural defects that are the responsibility of the Council.
27. Later in November 2023, Management Agent A remarks that the matter should be treated as urgent.
28. In January 2024, as per the Property Inspectors request, a suspension of rent payments is put in place due to the disrepair identified at the property.
29. In January 2024, works to resolve the disrepair are scheduled to be carried out at the end of the month.
30. At the end of January 2024, Management Agent A confirm that works to resolve the disrepair have been cancelled due to the job being raised incorrectly.
31. In February 2024, the Managing Agent confirms via email that internal repairs have been completed. This work included:
• Radiator in the hallway requires thermostats.
• Front room carpet flooring with the door threshold not secure.
• Kitchen door threshold is not secure.
• Bathroom door needs to be put back on hinges.
32. In February 2024, Management Agent A suggested the Council should consider relocating Ms X due to the external issues and proposed to schedule an appointment to white down and paint the arrears still affected by mould and damp.
33. In May 2024, due to the ongoing disrepair in the property, the Property Inspector recommended that the rent stops remain in place.
34. In June 2024, Ms X accepts an offer for alternative accommodation at Property B.

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Analysis

Resolving disrepair in the accommodation

35. The evidence demonstrates that Ms X’s reports of disrepair date back as early as September 2021. In the absence of full and comprehensive records provided by the Council, I cannot accurately determine when it first became aware of damp and mould issues complained about by Ms X, however, I take this to be prior to Ms X raising a formal complaint to the Council in March 2023.
36. Ms X’s asserts that she was experiencing and had reported the issue of mould and damp for over two years. In Ms X’s complaint, she asserts that it is her fifth time attempting to resolve the issue, and that she has called and sent emails to the Council and Managing Agent weekly, to no avail. Together with Ms X’s earlier reports of disrepair in September 2021, I see no reason to discredit her comments that disrepair had been ongoing and remained unresolved for a significant period of time and therefore on balance, I take Ms X’s version of events to be true. As per paragraph 18, I have limited the scope of the investigation to the 12 months prior to Ms X making a formal complaint to the Council, and so I conclude that disrepair remained unresolved at the beginning of this period, from March 2022.
37. As per the chronology provided above, although repairs were undertaken in February 2024, I cannot see that these repairs rectified the substantive concerns of Ms X regarding mould and damp. This is because the proposed recommendations made by the Council to address the issues were not works that were undertaken in February 2024.
38. This is further supported by the Managing Agent’s assertions that Ms X should be moved from Property A given the wider structural issues that persisted at the property, and that a further appointment would be scheduled to wipe down the affected areas and to apply anti-mould paint. The Property Inspector also recommended in May 2024 that the rent stops should be kept in place until the substantive issues concerning disrepair at the property were resolved.
39. Ms X was not moved from Property A until June 2024, when she accepted an offer for alternative accommodation at Property B and so I consider that Ms X was residing in unsuitable temporary accommodation between March 2022 – June 2024, a period of 36 months. This is fault by the Council.

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Agreed action

40. 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.
41. 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 is such as to arrive at a figure outside of this range.
42. In arriving at a figure per month, I have considered Ms X’s circumstances, and arrived at an amount of £100 per month. Given the period of complaint as described in paragraph 39 and here in paragraph 42, £100 x 36 is an amount of £3,600.
43. Considering the above, and details further set out in this complaint, the Council should:
1. Pay Ms X an amount of £3,600. This is to acknowledge the impact on Ms X of unresolved disrepair between March 2022 - June 2024, where Ms X continued to live in temporary accommodation that was unsuitable.
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.
44. Action point a should 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

45. I have concluded my investigation having made a finding of fault. Due to unresolved disrepair at the property pertaining to mould and damp issues, Ms X was living in unsuitable accommodation until she was moved in June 2024, this is fault. The Council has accepted my recommendations.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman