Summary: Ms X complained the Council offered her unsuitable temporary accommodation and delayed in responding to her reports about this. Ms X says this impacted on her mental health and she had to live in conditions which were unsuitable. We have found the Council at fault. To remedy the injustice caused to Ms X, the Council agreed to apologise and make a payment to Ms X to acknowledge the distress and hardship she experienced living in unsuitable accommodation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council offered her unsuitable temporary accommodation and delayed in responding to her reports about this. Ms X said she was left in accommodation which was unsuitable for her.

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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. 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

4. As part of this investigation, I considered the information provided by Ms X and the information the Council provided. I discussed the complaint with Ms X over the telephone. I sent a draft of this decision to Ms X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

Law and guidance

5. 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.
6. Councils must complete an assessment if they are satisfied an applicant is homeless or threatened with homelessness. The Code of Guidance says, rather than advise the applicant to return when homelessness is more imminent, the housing authority may wish to accept a prevention duty and begin to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. Councils must notify the applicant of the assessment. Councils should work with applicants to identify practical and reasonable steps for the council and the applicant to take to help the applicant keep or secure suitable accommodation. These steps should be tailored to the household, and follow from the findings of the assessment, and must be provided to the applicant in writing as their personalised housing plan. (Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance paragraphs 11.6 and 11.18)
7. 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)
8. 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 accommodation is available for their occupation (unless it refers the application to another housing authority under section 198). This is called the main housing duty. But councils will not owe the main housing duty to applicants who have turned down a suitable final accommodation offer or a Housing Act Part 6 offer made during the relief stage, or if a council has given them notice under section 193B(2) due to their deliberate and unreasonable refusal to co-operate. (Housing Act 1996, section 193 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 15.39)
9. 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 accommodation and accommodation provided under the main housing duty. (Housing Act 1996, section 206 and Homelessness Code of Guidance 17.2)

What happened

10. There has been extensive correspondence between Ms X and those supporting her and the Council in relation to this complaint. In this section of the statement I summarise key events but I do not refer to every single contact and communication.
11. Ms X suffers with significant mental health issues and had been hospitalised. After being discharged from hospital Ms X was supported by a not-for profit organisation and received assistance from a social worker through this organisation.
12. In July 2023, Ms X applied to the Council for homelessness assistance. At this time she was living in supported accommodation after being discharged from hospital. This accommodation was a room with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and was provided by the not-for profit organisation on a temporary basis until Ms X could obtain more permanent accommodation with assistance from the Council.
13. In late July 2023, the Council completed an assessment of Ms X’s needs and produced a personalised housing plan. The Council decided it owed Ms X the relief duty so would take reasonable steps to help her secure accommodation.
14. In August 2023, the Council offered Ms X accommodation and she signed the tenancy agreement on 25 August 2023. This property was managed by an agent.
15. Ms X’s social worker visited the property in late August 2023 and found there were issues with the cleanliness and repair of the property. The social worker reported this to the Council and agent. Ms X did not move into the property due to the issues there and remained in her supported accommodation.
16. In early September 2023, Ms X and her social worker attended the property again and noted there was black mould, the walls were very dirty, the property had not been cleaned, the shower was not working and there were piles of rubbish outside. The property had also not been registered for housing benefit purposes so Ms X could not apply for this. Ms X’s social worker emailed the Council and told it about these issues and asked the Council to source new accommodation for Ms X.
17. Ms X’s social worker chased the Council for a response on 12 and 14 September.
18. After visiting the property in early November 2023, Ms X’s social worker contacted the Council again as it had not responded to her previous emails and asked it to provide alternative accommodation. Ms X’s social worker told the Council there was significant rubbish build up outside of the property, a radiator was falling off a wall, the shower was not working and there was an issue with the water pressure.
19. The Council followed these concerns up with the agent of the property in mid-November 2023. The Council also told the agent it believed the property was uninhabitable and had been since the start of Ms X’s tenancy.
20. Over the coming weeks the Council, the agents and Ms X’s social worker were in communication about the following issues at the property:
• No electricity key so Ms X could not top up the meter.
• The shower not working.
• The bath taps not working.
• The taps in the kitchen and bathroom sinks not working.
• Issues with the electrics and lighting in the property.
21. Ms X moved into the property on 7 December 2023 as her supported accommodation ended and she could no longer remain there. Just prior to this the agents confirmed there was an electricity key and the landlord would consider replacing the shower but this was functional in the short term. The agents said the landlord had replaced some of the taps and resolved the lighting issues.
22. After Ms X moved into the property her social worker raised the following concerns to the agents and Council:
• The electricity key was still missing.
• The shower was broken and not fixed to the unit in the bathroom.
• Taps in the kitchen were leaking and taps in the bathroom were not working.
• The kitchen lights had been removed and wires were hanging from the ceiling.
• There was a large pile of rubbish outside of the property.
23. On 13 December 2023, Ms X emailed the Council and told it she had no running water, her washing machine was not working and there was rubbish piled outside of the property. Ms X’s social worker also raised these same concerns on 20 December 2023.
24. Over the next few months Ms X continued to report problems with the condition of the property, this included instances of no hot water. There are records of attempts by the agents to fix some of the issues, however the Council agreed to move Ms X to alternative temporary accommodation.
25. In late April 2024, Ms X moved into alternative temporary accommodation.

Ms X’s complaint

26. In early January 2024, Ms X complained to the Council that it placed her into unsuitable accommodation and had not responded to communication about this from her social worker. Ms X said she still had issues with hot water, the washing machine and rubbish outside of the property.
27. In early February 2024, the Council responded to Ms X’s complaint. The Council said it had reported the issues Ms X raised to the agents on her behalf and would continue to work with them. The Council told Ms X to contact its temporary accommodation team if the agents were unable to resolve the repairs.
28. On 19 February 2024, Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint at the next stage of its process. Ms X complained she still had rubbish outside of her property, no working washing machine and intermittent hot water.
29. On 26 March 2024, the Council provided its final response to Ms X’s complaint. The Council said the agents had said they attended each time she reported something and removed rubbish at their own cost. The Council said it would offer Ms X alternative temporary accommodation.

Analysis

30. When Ms X signed the tenancy in late August 2023, her social worker reported problems with the condition of the property to the Council. There are records of Ms X’s social worker contacting the Council from late August 2023 until mid-November 2023 about the condition of the property and not receiving a response. This was fault.
31. From November 2023, the Council was in contact with the agents to try to resolve the problems at the property. The Council also explained in November 2023, it considered the property was uninhabitable since the start of the tenancy and decided to move Ms X into alternative accommodation in March 2024. Based on this I am satisfied on balance that the Council placed Ms X into unsuitable accommodation. This was fault.
32. While I acknowledge the Council did attempt to work with the agents from November 2023 to try to arrange to have the problems with the property fixed, it could have looked to move Ms X into alternative accommodation at this stage given it believed the property was uninhabitable.
33. Due to the problems at the property, Ms X was unable to move into it when she signed her tenancy. As a result, she had to remain in shared accommodation. Once Ms X did move into the property in early December 2023, she continued to report issues with the hot water, electrics, washing machine and rubbish outside of her property until she moved in late April 2024. This is an injustice to Ms X.
34. Our guidance on remedies says where a complainant has been deprived of suitable accommodation during what would inevitably have been a stressful period in their life, our recommendation for financial redress is likely to be in the range of £150 to £350 a month. In this case Ms X spent 7 months in unsuitable accommodation. This is made up of the four months she was not able to move into the property for and the three months when she had to live there after her shared accommodation was terminated.
35. When coming to a suitable figure I considered Ms X did have somewhere to stay initially, albeit it had shared facilities. I considered the condition of the property Ms X complained about. I also considered Ms X suffers with significant mental health issues and has additional support needs so the impact of not having suitable accommodation will have likely caused her greater distress.

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Agreed action

36. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to carry out the following:
• Apologise to Ms X for placing her into unsuitable temporary accommodation and for the delays in responding to her reports of this.
• Pay Ms X £1,750 to acknowledge the distress and hardship caused to Ms X for the time spent in unsuitable accommodation. I have calculated this at £250 per month.
• The Council will review any similar cases where residents in this building (living in temporary accommodation provided by the Council) have reported problems with the building and consider whether it is appropriate to move them into suitable accommodation.
37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

38. I have completed my investigation and found the Council was at fault and this caused injustice to Ms X. The Council has agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman