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London Borough of Croydon (22 016 908)
Statement Upheld Allocations 04-Apr-2023
Summary: The Council was at fault for a delay in considering whether to exercise its discretion to pay Ms X’s legal fees in connection with an immigration application, a delay in processing her housing register application and a failure to send a decision letter when it later changed her priority band. There were also failings in the complaints process. The Council should pay her £500 for the worry and frustration caused, and take action to prevent recurrence of the fault.
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London Borough of Brent (22 017 238)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 04-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to reject Mrs X’s challenge to its decision on the suitability of accommodation offered to her under its homeless duty. It was reasonable for Mrs X to appeal the Council’s decision to the County Court on a point of law.
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London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (22 011 231)
Statement Upheld Homelessness 03-Apr-2023
Summary: there was fault in the way the Council considered Miss X’s request for a review of the decision not to award her additional preference on the Housing Register. There was further fault when the Council failed to consider the suitability of her temporary accommodation after Miss X and her solicitor reported the impact of damp and mould on her and her daughter’s medical conditions. These faults caused Miss X distress, uncertainty and denied her the opportunity to exercise her review rights. The Council has agreed to provide a suitable remedy.
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London Borough of Lambeth (22 005 213)
Statement Upheld Private housing 03-Apr-2023
Summary: Miss S complains the Council should have earlier rehoused her, after she told various teams about mould and leaks in her private sector flat. And that it did not inspect the property for disrepair. The Ombudsman upholds the complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations, so we have completed our investigation.
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Bristol City Council (22 011 543)
Statement Not upheld Allocations 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Mr X complains the Council was at fault in the way it dealt with his housing application, an agreement to make him as direct offer of alternative accommodation and in responding to his complaints of Anti-Social Behaviour at his property. We have found no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with these matters so have completed our investigation.
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Reigate & Banstead Borough Council (22 011 858)
Statement Upheld Allocations 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Ms B complained about the way the Council dealt with her housing application when she provided evidence of her worsening circumstances due to anti-social behaviour. We found fault in the actions of the Council. The Council has agreed to backdate Ms B’s Band B priority to 26 September 2022, pay her £150 for her time and trouble and improve its procedures for the future.
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London Borough of Camden (22 016 900)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the points awarded to Mrs X’s housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault with the way the Council considered Mrs X’s housing application. In addition, the Council has allocated points in line with its allocations policy.
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London Borough of Hillingdon (22 017 256)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Miss X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
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London Borough of Hackney (22 016 184)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 02-Apr-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s temporary accommodation. There was no fault in the Council not offering different accommodation during the review. Mr X could reasonably have used his right to go to court on the review decision.
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London Borough of Brent (22 002 990)
Statement Not upheld Other 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not get her consent before letting her property to a tenant. She also says it failed to respond to her correspondence and allowed the tenant to get into rent arrears and cause damage to her property. The Council are not at fault for letting Ms X’s home without her consent. However, the Council acknowledged it could have done more checks and was at fault for poor communication. It has offered a suitable remedy.
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London Borough of Tower Hamlets (21 015 477)
Statement Upheld Covid-19 02-Apr-2023
Summary: Mr Y complained about the Council’s lack of assistance with his homelessness. The Council was at fault for a failure to progress the homelessness case and issue appropriate decision letters between August 2020 and February 2021. The Council also failed to make proper enquiries about Mr Y’s caring responsibilities in that period but this did not affect the outcome. The Council said it would apologise and pay Mr Y £750 to remedy the frustration and uncertainty caused, which is an appropriate remedy.
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London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (22 010 421)
Statement Not upheld Allocations 30-Mar-2023
Summary: Mr X complained that the Council has failed to properly review his son’s housing application. The Ombudsman does not find fault in the Council’s actions.
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Southampton City Council (22 015 604)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Managing council tenancies 30-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council as a registered social housing provider because we have no jurisdiction to investigate.
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Telford & Wrekin Council (22 010 389)
Statement Upheld Private housing 29-Mar-2023
Summary: Miss Y complained the Council failed to respond to, or take proper action regarding, her reports of disrepair at her private rented property. We have found fault by the Council in its delays and service failures in the period from April to August 2022, causing injustice. We have not found fault with the Council’s response and action from August 2022. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused by making payments to reflect Miss Y’s distress and worry, time and trouble, and the impact on her and the family of living with the disrepairs during the period in which it failed to take proper action. It has confirmed the measures it has taken to stop the service failures happening again.
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Medway Council (22 011 715)
Statement Not upheld Allocations 29-Mar-2023
Summary: Mrs B complained about the way the Council considered her application for alternative housing due to her rare and debilitating medical condition. We have not found fault with the Council’s actions.
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London Borough of Lambeth (22 016 465)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 29-Mar-2023
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the suitability of Council’s provision of temporary accommodation. It is reasonable for Miss X to challenge the decision on suitability in the County Court.
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London Borough of Barnet (22 005 839)
Statement Upheld Homelessness 29-Mar-2023
Summary: The Council’s failure to consider the impact on a particular group of homeless applicants of its policy to award households in long-term temporary accommodation the lowest priority for housing was fault. This has resulted in a situation where such applicants neither have a realistic prospect of securing social housing nor receive active support from the Council to end their homelessness another way. They have therefore been homeless for over a decade. The Council has agreed to review its allocations scheme and take action to improve its service to this group of homeless people.
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London Borough of Hounslow (22 008 765)
Statement Upheld Allocations 29-Mar-2023
Summary: Miss X complained about the support the Council provided to protect her son from child criminal exploitation and related violence. There was fault in how the Council arranged for Miss X to move outside of its area, failed to decide whether to assess B’s special educational needs and how it handled Miss X’s complaint. This caused avoidable distress and uncertainty for which the Council agreed to apologise and pay Miss X a financial remedy. It also agreed to review its practices.
