Summary: the complainant, Mrs X, complained the Council failed to help her register a change in her household affecting her priority for housing allocations. The Council says Mrs X managed to make the changes online. The Council said it acted in line with its policy which expects all applicants to make changes online not to expect staff to do it. We found the Council at fault in not helping Mrs X upload a birth certificate and providing poor information, but this did not significantly affect the housing decisions on the application.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall refer to as Mrs X complains the Council failed to properly record the birth of another child when assessing her housing application even though she provided all the evidence needed. Mrs X also complains the Council on making her an offer of a home in her preferred area then withdrew it without explanation.
2. Mrs X says this has resulted in her living longer in an overcrowded home without enough room for her growing family.
3. To remedy the complaint Mrs X wants the Council to offer her suitable accommodation in the area of her choice.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. If 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

5. In considering this complaint I have:
• Contacted Mrs X and read the information presented with her complaint;
• Sent enquiries to the Council and reviewed its response;
• Researched all relevant law, guidance, and policy;
• Shared with Mrs S and the Council this draft decision so they may comment on it. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The law

6. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing.  Council’s must make all allocations in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A (1) & (14))
7. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:
• homeless people.
• people in insanitary, overcrowded, or unsatisfactory housing.
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds.
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
8. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application or housing application’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.
9. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. He may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.

Council housing allocations procedure

10. The Council has an online applications procedure. Once registered online the Council expects applicants to update their application online. This includes amending the information under the section ‘Your Household Details’ to record additions to or departures from the household. The list online also has a section ‘Required Documents’ which sets out the documents an applicant may need to attach online to support any changes.
11. The Council’s housing allocations procedure says it is the applicant’s responsibility to tell the Council immediately of any change in their circumstances by completing an online form. The Council says anyone needing help can obtain it by calling the Council or by prior arrangement at an appointed office.
12. The policy says the Council will not allow applicants to bid or be considered for an allocation while the application is re-assessed. This includes where circumstances have changed, and the applicant has failed to tell the Council and it finds out later.
13. The Council operates a choice based letting scheme where applicants may bid for a home. In exceptional circumstances the Council may offer a direct let.

What happened

14. In May 2018 Mrs X gave birth to a baby daughter, Y, and this meant her family now met the Council’s housing criteria for a four-bedroom house. Before May 2018, the Council considered the family lived in overcrowded conditions due to its size and number of children sharing bedrooms, so it had priority for a three-bedroom home. In September 2018 Mrs X sent Y’s birth certificate to the Council.
15. In November 2019 Mrs X successfully bid on a three-bedroom home. However, when the Council carried out its usual confirmation checks before granting the tenancy in March 2020, it discovered two changes to the family. The birth of another child and the age of the children registered on the application meant they now required another bedroom. Children of certain ages and opposite sexes require their own bedroom. Therefore, the Council says it withdrew the housing offer because of the change in the size of the household and the children’s need for separate bedrooms. The Council says it told Mrs X to log onto her housing account and edit her housing application by recording her daughter Y’s birth. The Council says it acted as set out in the allocations policy.
16. Mrs X says she had sent a copy of Y’s birth certificate to the Council it not being easy for her to scan in a copy to register it online. Mrs X says the Council told her it could not register the change; she must do it online. The officer declined to upload the copy birth certificate. The Council says it does have facilities to offer help with registering changes if someone finds it difficult to use a computer or is vulnerable and unable to register the change. Its policy directs applicants to telephone Council staff or make an appointment to speak to an officer at one of the Council’s offices.
17. The Council says it is not responsible for the delay in updating Mrs X’s housing application details. Under the housing allocations policy and procedure, applicants must make changes online to their application when circumstances change. The Council says since 2017 Mrs X has updated her application online. The Council says it had no evidence to alert it to Mrs X being vulnerable and unable to follow the change in circumstances procedure online.
18. In commenting on my draft decision Mrs X says she often asked her housing officer if she needed to send in further information to support her change in circumstances. Mrs X says her housing officer told her they had the copy birth certificate, and the registration team would update her registration. In July 2020 Mrs X successfully updated her application and the family became eligible for a four-bedroom house in priority band 2, the second highest priority banding. Under the housing allocations policy, the family may only bid on a house with a minimum or maximum of four bedrooms. It took from July 2018 to July 2020 for Mrs X to achieve this increased eligibility. It resulted in the Council withdrawing its offer of a three-bedroom house on which she successfully bid in November 2019.
19. In response to my enquiries the Council sent a copy of the screen applicants would see when logging into their account. There are buttons which allow the applicants to select “Edit your Social Housing application form” and “Upload/ review documents”. There is an explanation of the application procedure.
20. Between September 2018 and July 2020, the Council let 188 four-bedroom homes in Band 2. Between January 2020 and January 2021, the Council let 67 four-bedroom homes. The Council says that Mrs X’s choice of four preferred areas meant there are fewer eligible homes for her to bid on. Mrs X had also asked for a home in a specific area so she could more easily meet her family commitment to helping support relatives. The Council says while Mrs X has not excluded any areas, if she only bids on the four preferred areas it will take longer to successfully bid on a home. The Council says Mrs X has not missed a four-bedroom home allocation because of the delay in registering Y’s birth.
21. In an email sent by the Council in September 2020 the Council said its system had automatically updated the family’s application marking it eligible for a four-bedroom property in March 2020. The Council told me its system does not automatically generate a change to bedroom eligibility. It apologised that the information given suggested it did.
22. The Council says it does not class Mrs X’s housing circumstances as exceptional and therefore she is not eligible for a direct let. Mrs X says the Council’s officers told her it would offer her a direct let in one area of the city due to her caring role. The Council denies this and says first it would need Mrs X to apply for a carers assessment through Adult Social Care.

Analysis – has there been fault leading to injustice?

23. My role is to consider whether the Council has acted without fault when managing Mrs X’s housing allocations. If it has acted with fault, I must decide what impact that fault had on Mrs X and what the Council should do to put it right.
24. The Council withdrew its offer of the three-bedroom house because Mrs X had not registered Y’s birth with the Council and the age of the children registered meant she now needed a four-bedroom home. While Mrs X would have accepted the three-bedroom house, the Council could not award her the tenancy. That would be contrary to its policy and Mrs X would still need moving to a four-bedroom home.
25. The sudden withdrawal of the offer of the house caused disappointment but the Council did explain why it could not offer the home and advised Mrs X to register the change of circumstances online. The housing allocations policy says where a change of circumstance comes to the Council’s attention it will not continue with an offer of housing. Therefore, the Council could not continue with its offer. I find the Council acted without fault in following its housing allocations policy and withdrawing the offer.
26. In response to the Council’s withdrawal of this offer Mrs X says she tried to register Y’s birth on her housing application on-line but found it difficult. She sought help having sent a copy of the birth certificate to the Council. The Council’s policy is to encourage all applicants to register change of circumstances on-line. It considers this to be more efficient and quicker for applicants. The Council says it will help those it considers vulnerable. The Council says Mrs X’s record of making changes online suggested she could do it and did not fulfil its criteria as a vulnerable person.
27. I understand why Mrs X felt having sent a copy of the birth certificate it would have been relatively straight forward for the officers to help with registration. The Council should avoid placing barriers to applicants making the changes needed to update their details and thus miss gaining a home. Mrs X followed up progress with the registration and says the Council told her it had her copy birth certificate and would update her file. The Council did not do that. The Council acted in line with the policy and Mrs X managed to register the birth online later. However, I find the Council at fault in not uploading the birth certificate as promised and in failing to offer a more pragmatic approach. The Council could have uploaded the birth certificate even if it asked Mrs X to complete the rest of the registration online. The email sent in September 2020 giving inaccurate information about the system automatically updating eligibility caused confusion. I find the Council at fault in giving Mrs X mixed messages and a poor service.
28. Did this cause a significant injustice? In 2020 Mrs X registered the change of circumstances arising from Y’s birth two years earlier. This shows she could complete the task but does not mean she did not face difficulties. They key issue is did she miss bidding on a suitable home. From the information the Council has sent me and considering Mrs X’s application’s priority it is unlikely she would have successfully bid for a four-bedroom home between November 2019 and now. On the balance of probability therefore, I find Mrs X has the same priority for a four-bedroom home she would have been but for the fault. Therefore, I find the fault did not cause a significant injustice for which I can offer a remedy.

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Final decision

29. In completing my investigation, I find the Council acted with fault but did not cause a significant injustice for which I can recommend a remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman