Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to advise her correctly of the rent she should have paid in her temporary accommodation. She says the Council informed her in November 2023 she had historic rent arrears and falsely claimed to have previously alerted her. Mrs X said this caused her distress and placed her in financial difficulty. She would like the Council to remove the debt. There was fault in the way the Council did not monitor the rent account and communicate this with Mrs X. This distressed Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and review the property affordability.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to advise her correctly of the rent she should have paid in her temporary accommodation. She says the Council informed her in November 2023 she had historic rent arrears and falsely claimed to have previously alerted her. Mrs X said this caused her distress and placed her in financial difficulty. She would like the Council to remove the debt.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a Council’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. I read Mrs X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. Mrs 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

Background information

7. 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.
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). 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. There are two types of accommodation councils provide to certain homeless applicants: interim accommodation and temporary accommodation.
10. 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)
11. If, having made inquiries, the council is not satisfied an applicant is homeless, eligible, and in priority need, it will have no further accommodation duty.
12. 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)
13. If a council ends its interim accommodation duty, but then goes on to accept the main housing duty, it still has a duty to provide temporary accommodation.
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. 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.

What happened

16. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
17. The Council moved Mrs X and her family to a property in 2018. The Council provided this property as temporary accommodation. Mrs X signed the tenancy, which confirmed the rent was approximately £1,000 per month. Mrs X received housing benefit. This reduced the amount she needed to pay to approximately £800 per month. The housing benefit was paid directly to the Council, but the letters were sent to Mrs X.
18. Throughout 2019 and early 2020, Mrs X received several housing benefit letters.
19. In November 2023, the Council sent Mrs X a letter, explaining she had not paid enough rent, and she owed the Council approximately £6,500.
20. Mrs X complained to the Council in January 2024. She complained she had paid the amount the Council told her to when she moved in. Mrs X said this placed her family in a difficult financial situation and the Council had not communicated with her for five years.
21. The Council responded to the complaint at the start of April 2024. The response explained the housing benefit varied and the revenue and benefits office sent notice letters. The Council said Mrs X had been underpaying by over £200 per month and this caused the debt.
22. Mrs X asked the Council to escalate her complaint a week later. She questioned the Council communication and asked why it did not tell her she was not paying enough.
23. The Council sent its stage two response at the end of April 2024. The response confirmed Mrs X signed the tenancy agreement where it detailed the rent. It said the Council started to send rent accounts to tenants in November 2023 and this is when it noticed the issue. The Council said it tried to contact Mrs X in February 2023 but did not have a working telephone number. The Council accepted it did not try any other contact from 2021 until November 2023. The Council apologised. It accepted it should have addressed the arrears before the letter in November 2023. The Council offered Mrs X £500 to recognise her distress.
24. Mrs X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Mrs X would like the Council to remove the debt and review its procedure.
25. In response to my enquiries the Council accepted its communication was poor. It accepted it had not managed the account and not made enough effort to contact Mrs X. The Council evidenced it has issued a new strategy to address its failures.

My findings

26. Mrs X rents a property from the Council. She has signed a tenancy agreement that states what the weekly rent is. Mrs X knows what the rent is. The issue arose when the housing benefit changed.
27. The housing benefit letters are address to Mrs X’s husband. They have the correct address on them. It is reasonable to say Mrs X was aware the housing benefit changed.
28. However, the payments were sent directly to the Council. The Council should have told Mrs X she needed to amend the payments. It did not do this. This is fault.
29. The Council has a duty to ensure temporary accommodation is suitable. This includes the affordability. The Council has accepted it did not review Mrs X affordability. This is fault.
30. The Council accepted it did not make enough effort to contact Mrs X to discuss the rent underpayments. This is fault.
31. There was fault by the Council in allowing the debt to reach the level it did without acting. The letter the Council sent Mrs X caused her distress. However, I cannot say Mrs X does not owe any money. The Council offered Mrs X £500 to remedy the distress the Council fault caused. This is in line with our guidance on remedies.
32. The Council has accepted its significant fault in this case. I would usually recommend service improvements to address this. However, the Council has acted when it recognised the issues raised in this case. It has issued a new strategy that addresses the concerns raised. The Ombudsman welcomes this.

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Agreed action

33. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mrs X by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mrs X for the fault identified in this case. This apology should be in accordance with the Ombudsman’s guidance Making an effective apology.
• Pay Mrs X the £500 it offered to recognise the distress it caused.
• Complete an affordability assessment for the family.
34. The Council should provide evidence of the actions taken to satisfy the recommendations.

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Final decision

35. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Mrs X.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman