Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to resolve repeated repair issues with her temporary accommodation, making the property unsuitable to live in. The Council failed to assess the suitability of Miss X’s accommodation and failed to act on repeated reports of disrepair. This caused Miss X and her family frustration and distress. The Council will apologise, make a payment to Miss X and review its processes for responding to reports of disrepair with its temporary accommodation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to resolve repeated repair issues with her temporary accommodation, making the property unsuitable to live in. She says the Council left her without heating, an adequate kitchen and she could not open the windows, causing damp and mould. She says conditions in the property impacted her child’s asthma and caused her and her family distress. She wants the Council to move her family into a more suitable property and compensate her for the impact of its failings.

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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. 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.
6. 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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What I have and have not investigated

7. I have exercised discretion to investigate Miss X’s complaint from February 2022 when she moved into her temporary accommodation. This is because the Council and Company A repeatedly told Miss X they would resolve the issues resulting in her not complaining to us sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I discussed the complaint with Miss X and considered the information she provided. I also considered information provided by the Council.
9. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation

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. 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. The accommodation provided under the main homelessness duty is called temporary accommodation.
12. Homelessness temporary accommodation must be legally suitable. (Housing Act 1996, section 206) Anyone who believes their temporary accommodation is unsuitable can ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability. (Housing Act 1996, section 202) If the council’s review decides the accommodation is unsuitable, the council must provide suitable accommodation. If the review decides the accommodation is suitable, the applicant has the right to appeal to the county court on a point of law. (Housing Act 1996, section 204).
13. 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 (section 17.8 of the Code).

The Council’s repairs policy and procedures

14. When a tenant reports a repair, the Council will assess the urgency of the repair and the timescale by which is must be completed. The Council uses an external contractor, Company A, to carry out repairs and planned works on its properties.

The Council’s complaint policy and procedures

15. When a resident complains the Council initially offers a “quick resolution" where the resident can allow the Council three working days to resolve the issue or progress through the formal complaints process.
16. The Council’s formal complaints process has two stages. It will respond to stage one complaints within 15 working days. If a resident is unhappy with the Council’s stage one response, they have 28 working days to ask for a stage two review by a senior officer. The Council has another 15 working days to respond at stage two.

What happened

17. Miss X made a homelessness application to the Council in August 2021. On her application the Council noted her child had “weakened lungs/ chronic lung disease. The Council was satisfied Miss X was homeless and accepted its homelessness duty.
18. In February 2022 Miss X and her partner moved into temporary accommodation. In late 2022 they told the Council about several problems with water coming through windows and mould. Company A visited the property, it said it needed to book a team within one month to cut out and reseal the large windows and prevent further damage. Company A resealed the windows with mastic in the interim. It carried out a mould treatment in December 2022.
19. On 29 December 2022 Company A told the Council it needed to carry out further works to the windows. It said it would complete this work on 10 February 2023.
20. Miss X continued to experience issues with the property in early 2023. In April 2023 her partner emailed Company A asking for an update. He said water was still coming into the property, they could not open a window that was also a fire exit, and the heating was not working. Company A has no record of receiving this email.
21. On 12 June 2023 the Council contacted Company A. Company A contacted Miss X who said her and her partner could only agree to weekend visits because of work commitments. Company A said it could not do a weekend visit. Miss X complained to the Council. The Council did not uphold the complaint. It said it needed to carry out an inspection of the property and this needed to be on a weekday.
22. Miss X continued to report water coming into the property and mould. She said it was impacting her young child’s breathing. She said they still could not open the fire exit window. The Council contacted Company A who said any access needed to be on a weekday.
23. Miss X says a representative from Company A inspected the property on 3 August 2023. Company A and the Council have no record of this visit. Company A sent a gas engineer to the property on 23 August and 9 September 2023 but they could not gain access.
24. In November 2023 Miss X made another complaint. She said her family had experienced recurring issues since 2022. The fire exit remained blocked, a banister was broken and the storage heaters in the property did not work. She said the property was not safe to live in.
25. The Council contacted Company A. Company A said it had no record of requests for repairs to the windows, the banister, or the storage heaters. The Council pointed out to Company A the previous reports of issues with the windows in 2022, and the blocked fire exit. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint on 22 November 2023. It did not uphold the complaint as it said Miss X and her partner had not allowed access to the property on a weekday.
26. Company A inspected the property on 29 November 2023. It said it needed to replace the storage heaters and it would provide temporary ones in the interim. Miss X escalated her complaint to stage two. She said Company A had already inspected the property on 3 August and done nothing to resolve the issues. She said the damp and mould had returned and the fire exit remained blocked.
27. Company A visited the property again in December 2023 and confirmed the damp was because of a roof leak. It said it would book a roofing visit. The Council responded to Miss X’s stage 2 complaint on 15 December 2023. It said it had booked a roofer for 18 December. It said it would resolve the remaining issues in planned works in January 2024 where it would replace the windows, and the heaters, kitchen and bathroom. It said it would deliver temporary heaters. Miss X says these heaters never arrived.
28. Company A replaced the storage heaters in March 2024. Miss X continued to contact the Council and report issues to Company A and raised a new complaint. She said they had not had working heaters for two years and Company A had known about this since April 2023. She sent the Council copies of emails from April 2023 about the storage heaters. Company A said it had no record of receiving these emails. It did not uphold the complaint as it said it had only found out about the heaters in November 2023.
29. Company A replaced Miss X’s windows and bathroom in June 2024. The Council offered Miss X and her partner permanent accommodation in July 2024.

My findings

30. The Council had a duty to ensure Miss X’s temporary accommodation was suitable and free from disrepair or hazards. It should have not only assessed the suitability of Miss X’s property before she moved in but kept the suitability under review (17.8 of the Code). Miss X’s reports of significant ongoing disrepair should have prompted the Council to reconsider the suitability of the accommodation.
31. We asked the Council for copies of its suitability assessments for Miss X’s property. The Council sent us a copy of Miss X’s homelessness assessment but no suitability assessments of Miss X’s property. The Council failed to consider whether the property remained suitable in response to Miss X’s repeated reports of disrepair, starting in November 2022. This was fault. The Council denied Miss X her review and appeal rights and her family faced a prolonged period of uncertainty over whether the property was suitable.
32. The Council says it did not deny Miss X her appeal right. It says Miss X did not request a review to the court within 21 days of its official offer letter. The Council should have been aware of Miss X’s repeated repair requests and taken them as a trigger to review the accommodation and issue Miss X with a formal decision on the accommodation’s suitability. It is this failure which denied Miss X her appeal right.
33. Miss X first reported issues with the property in November 2022 and continued to chase Company A and the Council throughout 2023. Company A accepted the windows needed repairing in December 2022 but did not complete the work until June 2024. This included work to ensure Miss X and her family had access to a suitable fire exit in the event of a fire. This was fault.
34. Miss X’s partner chased Company A over repairs to the heating in April 2023. Company A says it never received the email, but it was sent to a recognised email address that Company A had previously corresponded with Miss X and her partner on. Company A did not replace the heaters until March 2024. This was fault.
35. Throughout this time both Company A and the Council failed to have adequate record keeping in place to respond to Miss X’s repeated requests to resolve the issues.
36. When Miss X asked for weekend visits Company A sent a gas engineer to the property twice without telling Miss X they were coming and despite the property having no gas central heating. Miss X and her partner say someone from Company A visited on 3 August 2023. Company A and the Council have no record of this visit, yet Miss X and her partner can give the name of the worker and details of what they discussed. On balance, I am satisfied this visit did take place, but Company A and the Council did not have sufficient record keeping in place to note its outcome and act on its findings. This was fault.
37. When Miss X contacted the Council later in 2023 Company A said it had no record of Miss X’s request to repair the windows. The Council had to correct Company A. In the winter of 2023, the Council and Company A promised to deliver temporary heaters. Miss X says these never arrived. The Council and Company A have insufficient record keeping in place to say for certain whether they did or not.
38. The issues with Miss X’s temporary accommodation were clear as soon as she reported them but Company A and the Council failed to have adequate record keeping and tracking in place to be able to respond. They either failed to respond at all, or when they did respond they dealt with issues in isolation. They failed to consider Miss X’s repeated repair requests or the information already on their records to plan works that would resolve the issues once and for all.
39. The Council compounded these issues by not upholding Miss X’s complaint in November 2023. This was despite Miss X presenting evidence of emails Company A had not responded to in April 2023 and the Council having to remind Company A of the outstanding repairs to the windows. The Council was too reliant on Company A’s version of events rather than considering all the evidence and making its own complaint finding. This was fault.
40. Miss X and her family have faced a prolonged period of frustration and distress. They have repeatedly raised disrepair issues with the Council and Company A while continuing to live with these issues. Company A accepted it needed to replace the windows in November 2022 and the storage heaters in early 2023, yet the works were not completed until Spring 2024.
41. The Council has now offered Miss X and her family permanent accommodation.

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Agreed action

42. 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. So, although we found fault with the actions of Company A, we have made recommendations to the Council.
43. Within one month of the final decision the Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Miss X and her partner for the frustration and distress caused by the failings identified. 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.
2. Pay Miss X £1000 to recognise the significant and prolonged distress and frustration caused by the Council failing to assess the suitability of her property, and then repeatedly failing to respond to her requests to resolve the issues while she and her family remained in the property.
44. Within three months of the final decision the Council has agreed to take the following action:
1. Ensure it has mechanisms in place to assess the suitability of temporary accommodation following reports of disrepair from tenants.
2. Review its repairs policy and procedures to ensure it and its contractors are considering repeated disrepair reports from tenants when assessing the urgency and timescale for a repair.
3. Review its processes for responding to complaints about the actions of organisations it commissions to ensure it considers all the evidence when responding to complaints.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

46. I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council causing injustice, which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman