London Borough of Southwark (24 014 894)

Statement Upheld Allocations 15-Jul-2025

Summary: The Council was at fault for not providing Ms X with a face-to-face appointment as part of her housing application despite Ms X informing the Council she needed this because English was not her first language. The Council was also at fault for a significant delay in processing her housing application and its poor complaint handling. This led to a 15 month delay in the Council approving Ms X’s application to join the housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment and backdate the priority of Ms X’s housing application to remedy the injustice caused. It has also agreed to produce an action plan and send a reminder to staff to prevent a recurrence of the faults.

Somerset Council (25 000 698)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 15-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.

London Borough of Brent (25 000 435)

Statement Upheld Allocations 15-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Ms X’s homelessness application and the support provided when she was fleeing domestic abuse. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.

Arun District Council (24 014 374)

Statement Upheld Allocations 14-Jul-2025

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council changing her priority date on reregistering her housing application under its new Housing Allocations Policy. Miss X said the decision to change her priority date was unfair and put her at a disadvantage when bidding for a new home. We found there was fault by the Council in its handling of Miss X’s application. The Council’s fault had been advantageous for Miss X. In correcting the fault and changing her priority date, the Council had put Miss X in the position she should have been in from the outset. The apology already given by the Council suitably addressed any injustice to Miss X caused by its initial fault in not changing her priority date.

Harlow District Council (25 000 752)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 14-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing register application. There is insufficient evidence of injustice to justify our investigation and the Council has since offered social housing.

London Borough of Hillingdon (25 000 395)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 14-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about delay and poor communication by the Council. This is because the Council has apologised about its communication and any injustice to Miss X is not significant enough to warrant investigation.

London Borough of Hackney (24 021 392)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 14-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

London Borough of Hillingdon (25 000 741)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 13-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Miss X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

City of Doncaster Council (25 001 510)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Allocations 13-Jul-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on the housing register because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. We cannot investigate any complaint about disrepair or anti-social behaviour because we cannot investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.

London Borough of Ealing (24 016 625)

Statement Upheld Allocations 10-Jul-2025

Summary: We found fault on Ms Y’s complaint about the Council’s delay dealing with the information submitted in support of her request for a higher banding under its housing allocation scheme. It failed to show officers reached their own decisions after considering Medical Advisors’ recommendations. It also failed to action her request for a statutory review following a Social Welfare Panel decision. The Council agreed to send her an apology, pay £100 for her distress, remind officers about recording their decisions, review why two forms and a request for a review were not actioned, and ensure these failures cannot be repeated. It also agreed to review the panel decision. There was no fault on her remaining complaints.