Summary: The Council was at fault for delaying in deciding Mr X’s housing application. This meant it took longer to resolve concerns about Mr X’s residency and finalise his bidding arrangements. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the distress, time and trouble he experienced.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council delayed in deciding his housing register application.
2. Mr X says the Council’s delay has caused him stress and he spent significant time trying to progress the matter before the Council decided his application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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. As part of this investigation I considered the complaint made by Mr X and the responses from the Council. I made enquiries to the Council and considered the response received. I sent a draft of this letter to Mr X and the Council for comments.

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What I found

Housing allocations

6. 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))
7. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in some categories, including people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds and people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
8. Councils must notify applicants in writing if they decide for example that an applicant is not eligible for an allocation or is not a qualifying person. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
9. The Council’s Allocations Policy says it aims to process applications within 28 days. It also says to qualify to join the housing register applicants must have lived in the borough for the last five years.

What happened

10. Mr X lives with his wife and adult daughter in a one bedroomed flat. He applied to join the Council’s housing register on 28 December 2019 as his flat was on the second floor and he cannot manage the stairs due to a medical condition. He also applied due to overcrowding. Mr X did not receive a response to his application so complained to the Council in March 2020 about the delay in processing his application.
11. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in April 2020 and apologised for the delay. The Council said there was a backlog in processing applications. The Council said it had registered Mr X’s housing application on 5 March 2020 and had sent Mr X a letter dated 11 March 2020 requesting further information so it could process his application.
12. Mr X disputes receiving this letter from the Council but after contacting the Council sent further information to it in support of his housing application. This included details of his daughters further educational course and proof of address.
13. Mr X sent several emails to the Council between April 2020 and June 2020 chasing a response to his housing register application.
14. In June 2020 the Council told Mr X he did not meet the five year local connection criteria so the Council could not allow him to join its housing register. Mr X responded to the Council on 19 June 2020 and said he supplied evidence showing he lived in the borough for over five years. He asked the Council to look again at this information.
15. Mr X did not receive a response from the Council so, in July 2020, requested the Council consider his complaint at stage two of its complaints procedure.
16. The Council provided its stage two response in August 2020. The Council said it delayed in dealing with Mr X’s housing application for three months due to demand on the service. The Council said after Mr X submitted further evidence in support of his application in April 2020 there was a delay in considering this however this was due to restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Council said it only has evidence Mr X has lived in the borough for the last four years. It invited Mr X to provide evidence he has resided in the borough for the last five years to qualify to join the housing register.
17. Mr X provided further documentation to the Council in August 2020 showing his continuous residence in the borough. The Council wrote to Mr X on 7 September 2020 telling him he qualified to join the housing register, however the Council had not included his adult daughter as part of his household.
18. Mr X then sent the Council medical forms relating to both his and his wife’s medical issues on 7 September 2020. The Council passed this onto its medical assessors, Now Medical, on 6 October 2020.
19. On 15 September 2020 Mr X emailed the Council with evidence showing his daughter lived with him. Mr X chased the Council for an update several times but did not receive a response. As a result he contacted the Ombudsman to complain.
20. In February 2021 the Council received the result of Mr X’s medical assessment from Now Medical which decided he had a moderate medical requirement to move. The assessment also found Mr X needed a property with no stairs or lift access. Following the medical assessment, the Council decided it was reasonable to include Mr X’s daughter as part of his application as she was a carer. The Council wrote to Mr X to confirm he was registered on the housing list. The Council has recorded Mr X’s original registration date as 28 December 2019.

Analysis

21. The Council was at fault for delaying in deciding Mr X’s housing register application. Mr X applied on 28 December 2019 but did not receive a response, resulting in him making a formal complaint in March 2020. While the Council said it processed his application on 5 March 2020 and sent him a letter requesting further information, which Mr X disputes receiving, this is still a delay. The Council aims to process applications within 28 days.
22. After receiving Mr X’s medical information in September 2020 it took a further month for the Council to pass this information onto its medical assessors. It then took a further four months for the medical assessors decide what medical priority applied to Mr X’s application. I cannot see evidence to explain why such a delay occurred. After receiving the medical assessment it was only then the Council could decide whether to include Mr X’s daughter on his application.
23. As the Council was at fault for delaying in deciding Mr X’s housing application, I must consider whether this caused injustice to Mr X. The correspondence shows Mr X spent time chasing the Council for a decision on his housing application and at times did not receive a response to the emails he sent. Had the Council initially processed Mr X’s application within 28 days after he applied on 28 December 2019, it would have been able to establish what further evidence Mr X needed to provide sooner. This could have resulted in the concerns about Mr X’s five year residence in the borough being resolved sooner. In addition, this may have resulted in Mr X not raising a formal complaint with the Council at this time.
24. Had Mr X’s medical assessment not taken so long to conclude the Council would have been able to decide Mr X’s banding and include his daughter on his application sooner. As Mr X did not receive a response to his concerns about his daughter not being included in his application, he complained to the Ombudsman. Had the Council progressed Mr X’s medical assessment quicker it may have avoided Mr X complaining to the Ombudsman.

Agreed action

25. Within one month of the final decision, the Council carry out the following and provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has done so:
• Apologise to Mr X for delaying in deciding his housing application.
• Pay Mr X £300 to recognise the distress experienced and time and trouble he spent in pursuing the Council.

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Final decision

26. I have completed my investigation on the basis there was fault by the Council for the time taken to decide Mr X’s housing application. The Council has agreed to the above actions to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman