London Borough of Hounslow (06A14980)

Housing allocations                    Maladministration causing injustice

07 August 2007 

Key issues

This complaint highlighted a problem with a housing register and a choice-based allocations scheme that was used by a number of councils. Although the report deals with a complaint against one Council, all of the councils that used the scheme were sent a copy so that they could check whether similar problems arose with their implementation of the scheme. It identifies the balance that has to be struck between applicants on the housing register and those who are homeless and in priority need. It also shows that there should be a match between practice and policy.

The complaint

Miss B complained about the Council’s handling of her housing application. She had been on the Council’s housing register since December 1999. She became homeless in December 2005. At this point the Council effectively treated her as a new applicant, although its allocations policy did not state that this should be the case. When she was moved to long-term temporary accommodation she did not recover the housing register priority she had before.

The Ombudsman’s investigation

To bring it in line with the Housing Act 1996, the Council needed to make changes either to its allocations policy or to its practice of treating homeless applicants as new applicants, but it did not accept this until after Miss B had complained to the Ombudsman. Despite assurances that it had been done, the Council failed to correct the error made in Miss B’s case until it was pressed to so.

During the investigation the Ombudsman’s investigator asked that the records of other homeless applicants be checked to see whether the practice applied in Miss B’s case had been implemented across the Council. This check identified what the Ombudsman called a significant and worrying proportion of errors in the assignment of priority dates to homeless applicants.

Outcome

Following the investigation the Council agreed to make changes to its policy to bring it in line with practice, and to identify and correct any errors made in the priority dates of other applicants. The Ombudsman also recommended that the Council carry out further sampling with a view to identifying applicants in similar circumstances to Miss B in order to establish whether the Council’s stated practice had been applied consistently.

The Council also revised the procedures for its homeless persons unit and arranged training for officers.

Date Updated: 13/01/09