on the lessons that can be learnt from our complaints about end of life care given in care homes and in the home.
Category : Housing > Homelessness Decision : Upheld Decision date : 24 Feb 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint about the suitability of her temporary accommodation. The Council have agreed to a suitable remedy.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council housed her in unsuitable and overcrowded temporary accommodation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council owed Miss X a homelessness duty and placed her, and her two children, in studio flat in 2023. Miss X says the property was not suitable and was overcrowded.
The Council accepted the property was not suitable in June 2023. The Council did not rehouse Miss X until September 2025.
There is a legal duty for councils to ensure any accommodation provided under a homelessness duty is suitable for the applicant and household members. If the council agrees the accommodation is unsuitable, it owes an immediate duty to provide suitable accommodation. If the council accepts the accommodation is unsuitable, the applicant does not need to request a formal suitability review.
The Council should have provided Miss X with suitable accommodation following the June 2023 decision the studio flat was unsuitable.
We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until June 2025, so we have considered the injustice from June 2024, twelve months prior to her bringing her complaint to us.
We asked the Council to remedy the injustice by making a symbolic payment to reflect for each month Miss X remained in the unsuitable property from June 2024 until September 2025, when Miss X was rehoused. We also asked the Council to review their process for when a property has been identified as unsuitable. The Council has agreed and will complete these actions withing four weeks.
Final decision
We have upheld Miss X’s complaint. The Council have agreed a suitable remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman