Summary: Ms D complains the Council failed to allocate her a property near family members in 2020. The Ombudsman has found evidence of fault by the Council in that it did not communicate clearly with Ms D. He has upheld the complaint, because of this fault, and completed the investigation because the Council has offered its apologies.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Ms D) says the Council failed to offer her a property (Property X) near to family members who she cares for.

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What I have investigated

2. I have looked at the actions of the Council. I cannot consider what Ms D’s landlord, a Housing Association (HA), did as explained below.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. If we are satisfied with a council’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)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’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

6. I have considered the information supplied by Ms D. I asked the Council questions and examined the evidence I provided.
7. I shared my draft decision with both parties and considered their responses.

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What I found

What happened

8. Ms D is a HA tenant. Property X is owned by the same landlord and became empty in January 2020. Property X is near Ms D’s family members who she provides care and support for. That month Ms D contacted the Council stating she wanted a housing transfer. She completed a housing register form and said she wanted to live in Property X. At the end of the month the Council assessed her housing need and placed her in Band B. It wrote with details of the decision and explained the average waiting time for a property was 3 years or more. Also, at that time the HA told the Council that Property X may need major works so there was no date when it would be available to let.
9. On 12 March Ms D emailed the Council asking for an update on her transfer application and move to Property X. The Council did not reply. On 21 May Ms D emailed the Council again asking if she was being considered for Property X. The Council replied on 1 June. It said Property X had been allocated to a Band A applicant. Ms D asked the Council if it could arrange a swap, so she had Property X and the Band A applicant had her current home. I cannot see the Council responded.
10. On 23 June Ms D lodged a complaint with the Council. She said the Council had told her, by telephone, she would be considered for Property X and this had not happened and the Council had not facilitated a swap. The Council responded on 16 July. It had no record of any promises being made to Ms D. The successful applicant had higher priority than Ms D. The Council would not withdraw its offer to the applicant. Ms D subsequently escalated her complaint and the Council replied on 1 September. It said that under covid-19 procedures it had to ensure homeless applicants were being housed.

What should have happened

11. The Council does not own or manage any housing stock. A person seeking accommodation can apply to the Council’s housing register to be considered for social housing. The Council assesses an application to see if the person is eligible to be on the housing register and then considers their priority and housing need. An applicant is placed into a housing Band. Band A is the highest priority and can be awarded to applicants who are victims of domestic abuse or hate crime or homeless with additional priority. Band B applicants include people moving on welfare grounds to provide care. Under the Housing Allocations Policy the Council can make one direct offer of housing to a homeless applicant in priority need.
12. When a HA has a void property, it will notify the Council if it is ready to let or needing refurbishment. The Council’s role is to offer the property to the applicant with the highest priority (including Band and time on register).
13. There is no duty on the Council to offer a swap between a tenant and an applicant.

Was there fault by the Council

14. The Council handled the allocation process correctly. It assessed Ms D in line with its Allocations Policy and allocated Property X to the applicant with the highest priority. The successful applicant was in the highest priority Band. There is no fault in this part of the complaint.
15. However, there is fault in the communications between the Council and Ms D. The Council should have made it clear to Ms D from the outset that she was highly unlikely to be offered Property X given the number of Band A applicants who were waiting for housing. I see the standard letter to Ms D in January did explain she would probably have to wait at least three years for a transfer. Because this was a template letter there was no provision to include additional text specific to her case. When Ms D asked the Council for an update in March it should have explained that she was not going to receive Property X, instead the Council failed to reply. When the Council did respond to Ms D on 1 June it failed to explain that it had no provision, or duty, to facilitate a swap between Ms D and the applicant for Property X. The Council added to the confusion in its second complaint response in September. It set out the need to house homeless applicants during covid-19. Whilst that was correct it made no difference to Ms D’s likelihood of being considered for Property X. The Council could and should have been clear from the outset that Ms D’s Band B status would not give her sufficient priority to be awarded Property X.
16. I understand Ms D says an Officer told her she would be considered for Property X. There is no record of that telephone call so I cannot say what was discussed or whether any assurances were made.

Did the fault cause an injustice

17. The poor communications meant that Ms D was left uncertain about whether she would be offered Property X for several months.

Agreed action

18. I am pleased to see the Council acknowledges that its communications with Ms D were inadequate. The Council offers its apologies to Ms D. In addition, it is now reviewing its standard letter templates to allow Officers to include information relevant to a client’s specific case to avoid the same mistakes happening again. I consider that a reasonable remedy.

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Final decision

19. I have upheld the complaint and completed the investigation.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

20. I cannot look at the actions of the Housing Association involved in this case for the reasons set out above.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman