Summary: The Council’s delay assessing Ms X’s change of circumstances forms and related evidence was fault. This caused Ms X avoidable frustration and uncertainty for over nine months. To remedy this injustice, the Council should apologise, pay Ms X £500, review her priority and act to improve its services.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her housing application. In particular, she says the Council:
1. Failed to consider the change of circumstances form and supporting medical information she submitted in September 2021
2. Failed to deal with her complaint about this in line with its policy.
2. As a result, Ms X says she does not have the correct priority on the housing register and has been to avoidable time and trouble pursuing the matter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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 spoke to Ms X about the complaint and considered the information she provided.
7. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered its response along with relevant law and guidance and the Council’s own policies.
8. I referred to the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies, a copy of which can be found on our website.
9. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Housing allocations

10. 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))
11. Housing applicants can ask the council to review a wide range of decisions about their applications, including decisions about their housing priority.
12. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme. This means housing applicants can express an interest in available properties. This is called bidding.
13. The Council places applicants who qualify to join the housing register in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority). This priority is the first factor the Council uses to allocate a property.
14. Within each band, applicants are prioritised using a priority star system. So far as is relevant to this complaint, the Council awards one priority star each for:
• People who need to move on severe medical or welfare grounds
• Working households
• Applicants who contribute to their community by volunteering
15. After sorting by priority band and priority stars, applicants are prioritised according to the registration date. This is the date the Council received a completed application.
16. If an applicant’s circumstances change and they attract a higher priority band after registration, the date of the change will be the relevant date for deciding priority.
17. The Council’s scheme says applicants must complete a change of circumstances form. It says it will tell applicants of the outcome within 28 working days.

What happened

18. Ms X lives with her children in a privately rented property. She joined the Council’s housing register in December 2020. The Council awarded priority Band 2.
19. One of Ms X’s children has health conditions which were diagnosed in 2020 and 2021. In September 2021, Ms X completed an online change of circumstances form to tell the Council about this. She also visited the Council in person to provide copies of supporting medical evidence.
20. The Council did not respond to Ms X’s submission. In January 2022, Ms X wrote to the Council to complain about this. The Council responded in February. It said she needed to complete a change of circumstances form. Ms X replied to say she had already done so.
21. The Council’s response to my enquiries includes evidence it sent Ms X’s information to a third-party medical assessor in February. It wrote to Ms X in July with the outcome. It said Ms X’s priority would remain Band 2.
22. In April 2022, Ms X completed a second change of circumstances form to tell the Council about her employment and volunteering. The Council’s records show it wrote to Ms X to tell her the information it needed to award a priority star for volunteering in July.

My findings

Housing allocations

23. The Council’s scheme says it will assess change of circumstances forms within 28 working days. Ms X completed a change of circumstances form in September 2021. The Council did not complete the assessment until July 2022. This is a delay of 190 working days or nine months. This delay was fault. The Council did not write to Ms X to tell her about any delay or to tell her it had referred her application to its medical assessor. This caused Ms X avoidable frustration and uncertainty for a considerable length of time. This is an injustice to Ms X.
24. The Council’s decision in July did not change Ms X’s priority. There is no fault in that decision. There is no evidence the decision failed to take relevant information into account and it is in line with the allocations scheme. I therefore do not find that the Council’s delay prevented Ms X from bidding with the correct priority.
25. However, in the time taken to assess her form, Ms X has received more information about the medical and housing needs of her child. The Council should allow Ms X to provide any additional evidence and review the decision.
26. The Council was also at fault in how it dealt with Ms X’s second change of circumstances form. She submitted it in April 2022. The Council did not write to Ms X to ask for more information until July. And when it did, it only asked for information about her volunteering. Ms X had also told it about her employment. This was fault. In response to my enquiries, the Council identified this error and said it would write to Ms X to explain the information it needed to award the priority star for employment and volunteering.
27. Ms X was employed in the same job when she joined the housing register in December 2020. It seems likely, therefore, that she told the Council about her employment in her original application. In assessing whether Ms X meets the criteria for a priority star, the Council should consider whether it should have awarded the priority star earlier and if so, backdate the priority date accordingly.

Complaint handling

28. Ms X complained to the Council in January 2022. The Council responded quickly. However, the response failed to acknowledge that Ms X had made a complaint. It referred instead to her “enquiry” and told her to complete the change of circumstances form.
29. The Council did not respond when Ms X told it she had already completed the form. Nor did it provide details about how to escalate the complaint to stage two. This was fault. This caused Ms X avoidable frustration and time and trouble. This is an injustice to Ms X.

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Agreed action

30. To remedy the injustice to Ms X from the faults I have identified the Council has agreed to:
• Apologise to Ms X in writing
• Review Ms X’s medical priority after giving her an opportunity to provide further evidence
• Decide whether Ms X meets the criteria for a priority star and if so, whether this should be backdated
• Pay Ms X £500 in recognition of her avoidable frustration and time and trouble.
31. The Council should take this action within four weeks of my final decision.
32. The Council should also take the following action to improve its services:
• Ensure applicants to the housing register who submit change in circumstances forms are advised of any delay and updated about any progress.
• Remind relevant staff that stage one complaint responses should provide details of how to escalate the complaint. Provide training or guidance as needed.
33. The Council should tell the Ombudsman about the action it has taken within eight weeks of my final decision.

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Final decision

34. I have completed my investigation. There is fault with the Council. The action I have recommended is a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman