Brighton & Hove City Council: the register
Ruling 24 010 647
Folio 182
Finding: Fault found
- Finding recorded by the ombudsman
- Upheld
- Service
- Housing: Homelessness
- Council
- Brighton & Hove City Council
- Body
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
- Decided
- Summary
-
Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his homeless application. We found the Council at fault in that it delayed in making a main housing duty decision and a decision about the suitability of Mr X’s temporary accommodation. These faults caused Mr X distress and the injustice of being unsuitably housed for a year longer than he should have been. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice by apologising and making Mr X a symbolic payment.
Summary as published by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Remedies
Words in quotation marks are quoted from the ombudsman’s decision.
States worked out on 9 October 2026.
The ombudsman publishes no entry for a remedy.
| Ordered | Outcome publishedThe ombudsman publishes no entry for a remedy. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | What was ordered | Deadline | Payment | Date | Entry | Payment |
| 1 | ApologyApologise to Mr X for the injustice he suffered because of the Council’s faults. We publish Guidance on Remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.Deadline as worded: Within four weeks of the final decision being issued |
Deadline passed 21 May 2025. Outcome not published. | None | No outcome published by the ombudsman | ||
| 2 | PaymentMake Mr X a payment of £2400 in recognition of the fact that, due to the Council’s faults, he suffered the injustice of being housed in unsuitable interim accommodation for a year longer than he should have been, which negatively impacted his physical and mental health. I have considered our Guidance on Remedies when making this recommendation: the sum recommended reflects the fact that, whilst Mr X was a single person impacted by the Council’s faults, the impact on him was greater than it would have been on the average person because of his diagnosed disability.Deadline as worded: Within four weeks of the final decision being issued |
Deadline passed 21 May 2025. Outcome not published. | £2,400.00 | No outcome published by the ombudsman | ||
| 3 | PaymentMake Mr X a further payment of £500 in recognition of the avoidable distress he experienced because of the Council’s faults. I have again considered the LGSCO’s Guidance on Remedies when making this recommendation, which defines distress as stress, uncertainty, frustration and loss of opportunity.Deadline as worded: Within four weeks of the final decision being issued |
Deadline passed 21 May 2025. Outcome not published. | £500.00 | No outcome published by the ombudsman | ||
| Stated payments ordered | £2,900.00 | Outcomes published by the ombudsman: none | ||||