Summary: The Council delayed assessing Miss B’s housing application and review request, but there was no fault in the way it decided that she does not qualify to join its housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss B and to take action to prevent similar failings in future.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council keeps rejecting her applications to join its housing register. She also complains about delays in the process.
2. Miss B says the Council’s failings have caused her distress. She would like to apply to local Housing Associations but says they will not accept her applications if she is not on the Council’s housing register.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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)
5. 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

6. Miss B complains that the Council has been rejecting her housing applications for over ten years. As explained in paragraph four, we will not usually investigate complaints about matters which the complainant has known about for more than 12 months. I have decided to exercise discretion to investigate Miss B’s complaints about the applications she has made since March 2022.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• considered the comments and documents the Council has provided; and
• given the Council and the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

The Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme

8. The Council’s housing allocations scheme sets out the rules for qualifying to join the housing register, how applicants are prioritised and how the Council manages the allocation of available properties.
9. The Council introduced a new scheme in January 2023. In both the current and previous schemes, applicants who have been assessed as having no housing need do not qualify to join the housing register.

Key events and analysis

10. Miss B applied to join the Council’s housing register in March 2022, July 2022 and February 2023. On each occasion, the Council decided that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register.
11. Applicants who have been assessed as having no housing need will not qualify to join the housing register. The application form requires the applicant to select from a list of housing needs. Each time Miss B completed the form, she selected ‘none of the above’. I do not consider there was fault in the way the Council decided that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register; she had not indicated that she had a housing need.
12. However, the Council did delay dealing with the application Miss B submitted in February 2023. We expect councils to assess applications within eight weeks. The Council assessed Miss B’s application in September 2023, 30 weeks later. This was fault.
13. The Council also delayed dealing with a request Miss B made in March 2022 for the Council to review its decision that she did not qualify to join the housing register. Councils should carry out reviews within eight weeks of the request. The Council did not consider Miss B’s request until October 2023, over 18 months later. This delay was fault. I note that the review had been superseded by the applications Miss B made in July 2022 and February 2023. The Council will not carry out a review if the applicant has submitted a new application, but it should still write to the applicant with its decision to close the review.
14. I consider the Council’s delays caused Miss B frustration, but I do not consider there was fault in the way the Council decided that Miss B does not qualify to join the housing register.

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Agreed action

15. The Council will apologise to Miss B within four weeks of my final decision. The Council will consider our Guidance on Remedies when making the apology.
16. Within six weeks, the Council will investigate why the request for a review which Miss B made in March 2022 was not considered until October 2023, and it will provide details of the action it will take to ensure similar failings do not occur in future.
17. I have not made any service improvement recommendations relating to the delay in assessing Miss B’s housing application. This is because the Council has agreed to make service improvements following our investigation of recent similar complaints.
18. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

19. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman