Summary: We have found the Council at fault for failing to consider Miss X’s household’s change in circumstances when it made a decision to offer a three bedroom property. This resulted in Miss X refusing the property. The Council has agreed to make a direct offer of a four bedroom property to remedy the injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council left her and her family in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. 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

5. Miss X brought her complaint to us in June 2024.
6. The restriction in paragraph 2 applies as Miss X knew about the matter in 2019 when the Council did not rehouse her after a court order found her accommodation unsuitable. I see no reason why Miss X did not bring her complaint to us sooner and I therefore will not investigate back to 2019.
7. I have investigated from April 2023 when Miss X reapproached the Council after her landlord issued a section 21 notice.
8. The Council moved Miss to X to alternative temporary accommodation after she brought her complaint to us. Miss X said this is not suitable. I have not investigated this as Miss X had review rights and it would be a new complaint.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered Miss X’s complaint and spoke to her about it.
10. I also considered the Council’s response to Miss X and to the Ombudsman’s enquiries.
11. Miss 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

Legislation and guidance

12. 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.

The prevention duty

13. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

The relief duty

14. Councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)

The main housing duty

15. 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)

Review rights

16. Homeless applicants may request a review within 21 days of being notified of:
• the suitability of accommodation offered to the applicant after a homelessness duty has been accepted (and the suitability of accommodation offered under section 200(3) and section 193). Applicants can request a review of the suitability of accommodation whether or not they have accepted the offer.

Right of appeal

17. The council must advise applicants of their right to appeal to the county court on a point of law, and of the period in which to appeal. Applicants can also appeal if the council takes more than the prescribed time to complete the review. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202, 203 and 204)

Priority need

18. Examples of applicants in priority need are:
• people with dependent children;
• people who are vulnerable due to serious health problems, disability or old age;
• victims of domestic abuse.

What happened

Background

19. Miss X and her family approached the Council after they fled domestic abuse. The Council placed Miss X and her family in private rented accommodation and ended its main duty. In 2019, Miss X asked the Council to review its decision that the accommodation was suitable. She said that her disabled mother could not access washing facilities.
20. The Council carried out a review and upheld its decision that the accommodation was suitable. Miss X appealed to court. In November 2019, the court issued an order. This required that the accommodation provided to Miss X and her household “shall include a minimum of three bedrooms, with washing facilities on the same floor of at least one of the bedrooms”. This effectively reactivated the Council’s main housing duty.
21. Between 2020 and 2023, Miss X bid on 30 properties. These were all unsuccessful. Miss X and her family remained in unsuitable accommodation.
22. The Council later acknowledged that it failed to pick up Miss X’s case after the 2019 decision due to a service error.

Miss X reapproached the Council

23. In April 2023, Miss X approached the Council. Her landlord had issued a section 21 notice with an expiration date of 30 June. The Council advised Miss X to make a homeless application. The Council did not make a connection with the 2019 court order.
24. In June, Miss X said she returned to the Council. She said the Council just gave her a paper that explained the 3-stage eviction process. The Council allocated Miss X’s case to a caseworker at the end of July and notified Miss X.
25. In August, the Council arranged a housing solution interview. On the back of this, it issued a personalised housing plan (PHP).
26. Miss X’s PHP stated that:
• Miss X had a valid section 21 notice as the landlord wanted to sell the property.
• she had priority need as she had dependent children and an elderly mother in her household.
• she was entitled to a 4 bedroom property.
• her mother had requirements that will need to be taken into account when looking at future housing needs.
27. In November 2023, the Council arranged an occupational therapy (OT) assessment of Miss X’s mother. One of the outcomes of this assessment was that Miss X’s mother could no longer use the bathchair safety and it was removed. Miss X said that since then, her mother has not been able to wash properly which affected her mother’s ability to practice her religion.
28. The Council noted that Miss X had not yet received a bailiff warrant.
29. In May 2024, Miss X received a bailiff warrant for July 2024. The Council referred Miss X to the housing register team.

Miss X complained

30. Miss X complained to the Council about how it handled her housing register application. She said she does not want to move her mother to more temporary accommodation and she needed a higher priority for the housing register so they can move somewhere permanently.
31. The Council considered Miss X’s case. At this point, it made the connection with the 2019 court order and the subsequent failure of the Council to move her family to suitable temporary accommodation under the main housing duty.
32. In June 2024, the Council awarded Miss X a Band 1 emergency priority direct offer. This meant that Miss X would be offered the next three or four bedroom social housing property that became available.
33. The Council offered Miss X three bedroom properties as it said this was in line with the 2019 court order. Miss X said that her circumstances had changed since 2019, and a three bedroom was not suitable for the following reasons:
• her children cannot share a room as they are a teenage boy and girl.
• she cannot share with her mother as she is elderly and ill and needs her own room.
• no one can sleep in a living room as this triggers her mental health. When she suffered domestic abuse, she was not allowed to leave the bedroom and enter the living room.
34. Miss X brought her complaint to us in June 2024.

Update

35. In July, the bailiff warrant expired and Miss X became homeless. The Council ended its prevention duty. On the same day, the Council accepted the relief duty.
36. The Council moved Miss X to three bedroom temporary accommodation. Miss X said that although the new temporary accommodation is one level, there is only a bath that her mother cannot access. She said there is also an insect infestation, a mice problem and no disabled parking.
37. In September, the Council made Miss X a direct offer of permanent accommodation. Miss X refused the offer as it was a three bedroom property.
38. In November, the Council ended its section 193 duty as Miss X had refused a property that the Council deemed suitable. It confirmed that as the Council had discharged its housing duties, her current temporary accommodation will be ended.

My findings

39. When Miss X reapproached the Council in 2023, it failed to make the connection with the 2019 court order. This was fault which caused Miss X confusion and uncertainty. Miss X and her family remained in unsuitable accommodation for another year until Miss X complained.
40. Only when Miss X complained about the housing register in 2024, did the Council recognise its error of not implementing the 2019 court order. The Council moved Miss X to band 1 emergency priority direct offer to remedy the injustice Miss X and her family experienced as a result of the Council’s earlier mistake.
41. This was an appropriate remedy. However, the Council failed to consider that Miss X’s circumstances had changed since the 2019 court order. The Council’s 2023 assessment showed that Miss X’s household needed a four bedroom property. Instead, the Council relied on the 2019 court order that identified a three bedroom need. This was fault. This fault resulted in the Council offering Miss X properties which she refused as being unsuitable.
42. The Council has agreed to make Miss X a direct offer of the next four bedroom suitable property that becomes available. This will put Miss X back in the position that she would have been had it not been for the fault.

Latest issues

43. I recognise the family is currently in a difficult situation as the Council has ended the main housing duty after Miss X refused a direct offer of permanent accommodation. This investigation does not cover events that happened after Miss X brought her complaint to us in June 2024. She has a right to review and then appeal the Council’s decision to end its main housing duty.

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Agreed action

44. Within 4 weeks of my decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Miss X and her family for failing to consider Miss X’s change in circumstances between the 2019 court order and the Council’s direct offer of a three bedroom property.
2. Pay Miss X £2400 in recognition of the distress caused from living an additional year in unsuitable accommodation after the Council failed to make the connection with her earlier case.
3. To make Miss X a direct offer of the next suitable four bedroom property that becomes available.
45. Within 12 weeks of my decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. ensure officers dealing with homeless applications check for relevant related cases or information as part of initial inquiries; and
2. identify and implement a process to ensure the Council acts on court orders affecting homeless applications in a timely way.
46. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

47. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault with the Council for failing to consider Miss X’s change in circumstances between 2019 and 2024. This resulted in an offer of unsuitable accommodation that Miss X refused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman