Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to refuse her application to join its housing register. We found the Council to be at fault because it did not properly consider the evidence provided by Miss X. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a modest payment to acknowledge her frustration, time and trouble. It will also reconsider her application and take action to improve its service.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s decision to refuse her to join the housing register, despite providing all the required supporting evidence.
2. She says this has caused significant frustration and disappointment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I discussed the complaint with Miss X and reviewed the evidence she sent me.
6. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its written responses and information it provided.
7. I considered the relevant law, guidance and Council policy, as set out below.
8. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and Council policy

Housing allocations

9. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
10. The Housing Act 1996 details factors that Councils may take into account when determining priorities including a person’s available funds to meet housing cost.

The Council’s allocations scheme

11. 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.
12. The scheme states applicants may be accepted onto the housing register with band four priority if they are deemed to be not adequately housing due the affordability of their current accommodation.
13. When making an application, the Council’s website states applicants must provide proof of all benefits. Evidence must be in the form of “an award letter or most recent bank statements showing all payments received”.

What happened

14. Below is a summary of the key events leading to this investigation. It is not an exhaustive chronology of every exchange between parties. Where necessary, I have expanded on some of these events in the “analysis” section of this decision statement.
15. Miss X lives in rented accommodation. She was struggling to afford the rent payments and applied to join the Council’s housing register. 
16. Her application was refused because she the Council said she was adequately housed. Miss X appealed this decision. Miss X was asked to provide evidence to support her appeal, specifically about her income and expenditure. Miss X submitted her bank statements.
17. Her appeal was unsuccessful because the Council said Miss X did not provide evidence of:

• housing benefit; and
• proof of where her wages were paid.

18. Dissatisfied with this outcome, Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman
19. In response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries, the Council:

• accepted Miss X has provided details of where her wages were paid. It apologised for this mistake;
• confirmed the correct decision was made because Miss X did not provide evidence of her housing benefit award when she made her appeal; and
• invited Miss X to make another application if she wished to do so.

Analysis

20. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council for refusing an application if it has properly considered the information provided by the applicant and applied its allocations scheme correctly.
21. In response to my enquiries the Council has already accepted it was at fault when it told Miss X she did not provide bank statements showing where her wages were paid into. Miss X did provide this information.
22. An apology is an appropriate remedy for the frustration experienced by Miss X.
23. Notwithstanding this error, the Council says it was right to refuse her application because she did not provide evidence of her housing benefit and had a regular income showing on her bank statement that she had not explained.
24. In response to her appeal of Council’s original decision, the Council asked Miss X to provide “evidence of all income, including wages, benefits, Housing Benefit etc.”
25. Miss X provided her bank statements and told the Council in an email that he received £390 twice a month in housing benefit.
26. Her bank statement shows regular fortnightly payments described as, “Bank giro Credit Ref Thurrock Council £390.74”.
27. I disagree with the Council’s position. The Council’s website (paragraph 13 above) says proof of benefits can be in the form of a bank statement. It was reasonable for Council to have reconciled the payments of £390 on her bank statements with what it was told by Miss X about her housing benefit entitlement. This is because it is the same amount, and they were paid by the Council that also has responsibility for housing benefit payments. She was not told to provide a copy of the award latter which seems to be what the Council expected. If this was the case, the Council should have made this clear from the outset.
28. In my view, this amounts to fault. I made recommendations below to remedy the injustice to Miss X

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Agreed action

29. The Council has agreed to take the following action within four weeks from the date of my final decision.
1. Apologise to Miss X.
2. Pay Miss X £100 as a symbolic payment to acknowledge her distress and frustration caused by the Council’s handling of her housing application.
3. Invite Miss X to make a new housing application. If she is successful, this should be backdated to when she made her first application.
4. Provide a copy of this decision statement to officers that process housing applications to make them aware of the need to avoid taking an overly restrictive approach when assessing evidence provided by applicants.
30. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

31. I found the Council to be at fault. The Council has agreed with my recommendations to remedy the injustice to Miss X and improve its service. On this basis, I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman