Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has failed to find suitable accommodation for her family despite them having the highest priority for an allocation and it failed to keep her updated on progress. There was no fault in the way the Council assessed Mrs X’s housing priority. The Council was at fault for giving Mrs X unclear advice, which raised her expectations, for not keeping adequate records of contacts and for not responding properly to her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, pay her £150 and to make some changes to its processes.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council has failed to find suitable accommodation for her family despite them having the highest priority for an allocation and her child’s urgent medical needs, and it failed to keep her updated on progress. Mrs X says living in an unsuitable property is causing significant distress and strain to all members of the family. In addition, the Council delayed responding to Mrs X’s complaint causing her time and trouble and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I have considered the information provided by Mrs X and have spoken to her on the telephone. I have considered the Council’s response to my enquiries and its housing allocation scheme.
6. I gave Mrs X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision and considered any comments I received in reaching a final decision.

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What I found

7. 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))
8. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which it advertises. It places applicants into one of five bands, A to E, with A being the highest. In line with the policy, the Council can in certain circumstances directly allocate a property. This includes where an applicant has an urgent need for a larger property.
9. The Council’s complaints’ procedure sets out that all officers, in the first instance, should try to deal with problems. Service managers should carry out investigations at stage one of the complaints procedure and should respond within 10 days. It says ‘a stage one response by letter is not always necessary. If it can be dealt with by a phone call or visit we should do this’. Assistant Directors should reply to complaints at stage two. They should write to the customer within 20 working days of either any meeting or the complaint being referred.

What happened

10. Mrs X lives with her husband and four children in a three-bedroom property. One of the children, Y, is disabled with a life limiting condition. Y shares a room with a sibling. Their eldest child is nearly 16. In March 2020 Mrs X applied to join the housing register. She also provided medical information in support of her application.
11. In April 2020 the Council’s medical adviser considered the medical information but did not recommend medical priority. They considered overcrowding attracted its own priority.
12. In early May 2020 Mrs X emailed a Council officer chasing progress on her application. In her email she referred to a conversation ‘the other day’. There is no record of this conversation on the Council’s system notes. In response to my enquiries, the Council officer says Mrs X ‘advised that she had discussed her housing situation with a tenancy advisor and she said she had been informed that there could be a possibility for the council to purchase a property for this family. I have never advised that this is something we can do- this is not my field. All [Mrs X] was advised of was that we do buy properties from the open market but I will run this case through A&A [the Aids and Adaptations] and Investment team’.
13. Mrs X emailed the Council officer mid-May to advise she had seen a couple of 5-bedroom houses on the open market which would meet their needs and asked the Council to elaborate on what it meant by seeking to find an appropriate suitable long-term home.
14. In the system notes the Council officer recorded ‘Can you please advise [Mrs X] to stop looking for properties to buy as this will not be her choice really and the procedure is not as straightforward’. An officer noted they had spoken to Mrs X as per the system note.
15. In early June 2020 Mrs X complained to the Council. She said it had misled her into believing it would purchase a property from the open market to meet the family’s needs.
16. A Council officer spoke to Mrs X on the telephone. The Council officer then emailed the complaints team. In the email they wrote Mrs X was advised ‘we will not buy the property from open market specifically for family. She was advised to stop looking for the properties online. …….In the meantime their application will be added onto the direct let boards for a 4 bed house, once the property is identified the panel would need to agree for a direct let’. There is no note of the actual conversation with Mrs X on the Council’s system notes.
17. Following the telephone call the Council closed the complaint.
18. In late June 2020 Mrs X rang the Council to find out what was happening with her complaint. She says the Council told her it was closed in early June. There is no record of this call in the Council’s system notes. Mrs X submitted a complaint to the Council about this in early July 2020. She complained she had not received a response to her complaint and her questions were not answered.
19. In early July 2020 the Occupational Therapist submitted a report to the Council which recommended that Y had their own room. They also recommended storage space (such as an outbuilding or garage) for Y’s equipment. The Council awarded Mrs X’s application very high (band B) priority back dated to early March due to the current property being unadaptable. It assessed Mrs X’s family as requiring a four or five-bedroom property.
20. Mrs X emailed the Council for an update. The Council officer responded that they had received the OT report. They confirmed Mrs X’s application was being considered for a direct let. They were looking for four and five-bedroom properties as five-bedroom houses were extremely rare. The moment they identified a suitable property they would inform Mrs X to view it with an OT.
21. In mid-August 2020 Mrs X emailed the Council to chase up its response to her complaint. In late August 2020 the Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint. It acknowledged there was some misunderstanding in some of the advice provided to Mrs X.
22. It said the Council officer had discussed Mrs X’s complaint with her and explained the application process. The Council officer said when speaking to Mrs X she confirmed she was happy with the response and that is why they closed the complaint.
23. It set out there was a misunderstanding regarding the open market purchases the Council undertakes. It said the Council does make open market purchases but it does not buy properties specifically for certain applicants. When it purchases a property it will liaise with the Lettings Team to ensure it makes the best use of stock provision. It may consider making a direct offer of adapted properties if this was appropriate. It apologised for any confusion caused.
24. It explained there was a large demand for social housing which far outweighed the supply available and waiting times could be lengthy. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman

Findings

Housing allocations

25. Mrs X and her family are in a very difficult position. However, large, adaptable properties are in short supply. The Council has confirmed it has 48 five-bedroom properties available across the Council area and the last one to be available was in January 2019. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. We may not find fault, if the council has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.
26. The Council has properly considered Mrs X’s housing application and has awarded her very high (band B) priority in line with its housing allocations policy. There is no fault in the way the Council has assessed Mrs X’s housing priority. Because of the specific needs of the family the Council has placed Mrs X on its list for consideration for a direct allocation. This means Mrs X does not need to bid as her application will be considered against available properties before properties are advertised. The Council advised Mrs X of this by email in early July 2020. Mrs X says she has not been kept updated. However, unless the Council has a property available to potentially meet Mrs X’s needs, I would not expect it to contact her. The Council is not at fault.
27. I cannot know exactly what was discussed with Mrs X when she spoke to the council officer in April/May 2020. There are no system notes of the conversation and that is fault. In response to my enquiries the Council officer says Mrs X had spoken with a tenancy advisor who suggested there was a possibility the Council could purchase a property for the family. The Council officer says they told Mrs X the Council does buy properties from the open market but this would need to be considered by the aids and adaptations and investment teams. The Council did not clearly explain to Mrs X that it would not purchase a property off the open market specifically for the family. This is fault and raised Mrs X’s expectations.

Complaint response

28. Mrs X made a formal complaint to the Council. Its policy allows it to address the complaint by telephone and does not require it to send a letter. The Council officer advised the complaints team they had spoken to Mrs X but there are no system notes of the actual conversation and there is no record of when his conversation actually took place. That is fault. Further, the Council officer did not make it clear they were responding to the complaint and Mrs X says she was not aware the conversation related to her complaint. This is fault. In any case, if the Council was treating Mrs X’s complaint as a stage one complaint a service manager, not the Council officer, should have responded to the complaint.
29. When Mrs X rang the Council to asking about progress with her complaint, she was told it was closed. There is no record of this call in the system notes. This is fault. Mrs X complained again in early July as she considered she had not received a complaint response. Mrs X did not receive a response until 53 days later. This is significantly longer than the 20 working days allowed for in the complaints’ procedure. This is fault and caused Mrs X frustration.

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Agreed action

30. The Council has agreed, within one month of the date of the final decision on this complaint, to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £150 to acknowledge the impact of the unclear advice and the frustration caused by the way it dealt with her complaint.
31. Within two months of the final decision, the Council has agreed to remind officers:
• To ensure they record all contacts with customers; and
• Clearly advise customers when they are responding to a complaint.
32. It should provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has done this.

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Final decision

33. I have completed my investigation. There was evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice which the Council has agreed to remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman