Summary: Ms X complains the Council has not dealt with her housing properly. The Council did not deal with her complaint according to its complaints policy. Ms X did not suffer any injustice as a result.

The complaint

29. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complains the Council has not dealt properly with her housing because it:
1. asked an Occupational therapist to contact her 7 times in 24 hours;
2. made an offer of unsuitable housing in 2022;
3. failed to offer an adapted home in five years;
4. decided she was eligible for 3 bed properties only; and not also for four beds; and
5. did not respond to all points in her complaint and didn’t provide a stage one response.
30. Ms X says she has been in band one for five years, had to appeal the unsuitable offer and her family has been living in housing that does not meet their needs.

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What I have and have not investigated

31. I have investigated parts c), d) and e) of Ms X’s complaint.
32. I have not investigated;
• Part a) of Ms X’s complaint about contact from an occupational therapist, because there is insufficient indication of any fault by the Council or injustice to the complainant.
• Part b) of Ms X’s complaint about an offer of unsuitable housing in 2022, because she was able to ask for a review of this, the offer was rescinded and no injustice was suffered.
• issues or events covered by a previous Ombudsman complaint to May 2021.
• events after this complaint in November 2022, including any further complaints and the subsequent reviews of banding allocation/numbers of bedrooms and the suitability of a subsequent offer made. These matters would need to be dealt with as separate new complaints to the Ombudsman.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

33. 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)
34. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an organisation is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the organisation’s actions. (Local Government Act 1974, section 25(7), as amended)
35. Barnet Homes keeps the Council’s housing register. We can investigate Barnet Homes’ involvement as it is providing a service (housing function) on behalf of the Council.
36. 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)
37. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
38. 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

39. I spoke to Ms X about his complaint and considered the information she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
40. 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

41. 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))
42. 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))
43. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application or a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.
44. 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.

The Council’s Allocations Policy

45. The demand for social housing is very much greater than the number of homes available. The Allocations Scheme describes how the Council prioritises housing applicants to ensure that those in greatest housing need are given a head start to access available social housing, compared with those who have no housing need, but who want to move to or within social housing.
46. Barnet Council’s Allocations Scheme sets out in detail who is and who is not assisted under the Scheme and how this is decided. (Housing Allocation Scheme May 2019 section 1)
47. The Council has developed a housing banding system (Band 1-4) to determine who will be prioritised for housing in the borough. (Housing Allocation Scheme May 2019 section 3.9)
48. The size of accommodation for which each applicant will be considered will depend upon the size and composition of the applicant’s household. The relevant requirements for Ms X’s household are set out as below;

(Housing Allocation Scheme May 2019 section 3.23 and Annex 2)

53. Larger accommodation .. may be considered in exceptional circumstances on the recommendation of a specialist advisor, for example the Medical Assessment Team, Occupational Therapy Service, or Senior Social Worker. (Housing Allocation Scheme May 2019 section 3.24)

What happened?

54. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.

55. Ms X is on the housing register with the Council. She is in band 1, the highest priority. Ms X has two children of the same sex. One of Ms X’s children requires disabled adaptations.
56. Ms X has been waiting for the Council to make an offer of housing to her for a significant length of time.

Analysis

57. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them. Any fault by Barnet Homes is fault by the Council.

Delay and bedroom needs

58. The Council say a couple with two children of the same sex would normally be a 2-bedroom need. However, due to her household composition and medical needs of her children, Ms X’s household was assessed as a 3-bed need.

59. I have seen a letter from July 2022 showing that the Council placed Ms X in band 1 for housing with up to 3 bedrooms.

60. I have seen the Occupational Therapist’s (OT) report for Ms X’s family that says the family should be considered for rehousing to a wheelchair accessible property.
61. The OT says Ms X needs a property that has the following features or one that can be adapted to have the following features:
• Wheelchair access to, from and within the property. The doors to have minimum clear openings of 775mm, however 850mm would be preferred;
• If there are communal doors, automated door openers should be installed to enable parents/carer to access the property while pushing the service user’s wheelchair;
• All essential facilities to be on the same level and level access throughout the property;
• A suitably sized wheelchair accessible bathroom with level access shower facilities or one that can be adapted to provide these facilities. The basin needs to be wall hung with a mixer lever tap and allow wheelchair access under the basin;
• The service user’s bedroom needs to accommodate a profiling bed as well as allow access to carers on both sides of the bed, wardrobes and a wheelchair turning space of 1500mm;
• The kitchen needs to be accessible for a wheelchair so that the service user can join her family in the kitchen when they prepare the meals; and
• The bedroom, bathroom and living room needs to have ceiling track hoists.

62. Ms X says the Council told her it made adaptions to a number of properties between 2021 and 2023 but didn’t offer any of them to her.

63. The Council said all the properties were voids which were adapted. I have seen information from the Council about these properties which shows:
• one was offered to an applicant with higher priority;
• two were not considered for her because they were three bedroom properties when her family’s needs at the time were for a four bedroom property;
• two did not meet her family’s needs concerning adaptions; and
• eight were only one or two bedroom properties and were too small.

64. The Council did not fail to consider Ms X for any of the adapted properties considered by this investigation. I do not consider this to be fault by the Council.
65. The Council says it has considered five properties for Ms X since April 2021.

67. The Council provided photographs to further illustrate why properties 2 and 4 were not able to meet Ms X’s needs.

68. It is clear from the information provided by the Council that it has considered her for both three and four bedroomed properties, because it has looked at whether larger properties would be capable of adaption for her. The Council has exercised discretion outside its allocations policy.
69. Ms X says the Council has adapted a number of properties and hasn’t offered any of them to her. I have considered the following information:
• A freedom of information response to Ms X from the Council;
• The Council’s response to my enquiries; and
• Further specific information about all the properties adapted by the Council in the relevant time period, including photographs.
70. After reviewing this information, it shows that:
• the Council did not consider Ms X for any 1 or 2 bedroom properties because they would have been too small;
• the Council did not consider Ms X for five 3 or 4 bedroom properties because they were not capable of being adapted to meet her needs;
• Ms X was considered for all the remaining properties that were capable of meeting her needs and were of the right size.

This is not fault by the Council.

71. Since Ms X’s complaint, in January 2023 the Council re-assessed supporting information Ms X has provided from medical professionals. The outcome remained that Ms X’s family was assessed as a 3-bed need. I have therefore not investigated this part of Ms X’s complaint further as the unchanged assessment outcome means she cannot have suffered any injustice in relation to the number of bedrooms the Council considered her for.
72. The Council has followed its allocations policy when it decided how many bedrooms Ms X’s family is entitled to. There is no evidence it has not considered all relevant information. This is not fault by the Council.

73. Ms X says she has told the Council that she would accept a property that had only one adapted room for her daughter. Ms X did not refer to this in her complaint to the Council, her communications with elected members of the Council, her complaint to the Ombudsman or her supporting documentation sent to the Ombudsman. I have therefore not investigated this further.
74. Ms X has waited a long time to be offered a property. The evidence indicates this is due to the shortage of suitable properties rather than any fault by the Council.
75. I have also investigated whether the Council is using strategic planning powers to build more adaptable or adapted housing. If the Council knows it has a need for more adapted properties, then it should be building this into its strategic plans.
76. The Council says it has taken the following action to improve the availability of adaptable or adapted housing.
• its Fresh start initiative (actively working with clients who are under-occupying large properties), including marketing and financial incentives;
• a dedicated occupational therapy resource within the adaptations team who is contracted to Barnet Homes to identify potential scope for adaptations; and
• Barnet Homes have secured funding from the Council’s housing revenue account from April 2020 (£1.5m for 3 years) to adapt properties to meet the need of housing applicants.
77. I have reviewed the Council’s Housing Strategy, Homelessness Strategy and Corporate Plan. These documents show:
• the Council is aware there is a need to increase the supply of housing;
• all new homes in the borough are required to meet Part M of the 2015 Building Regulations which sets out requirements for ensuring that new homes are accessible and adaptable;
• disabled facilities grants provide a facility for adapting homes for those with disabilities;
• the Council is also taking additional action to increase the supply of accessible housing as part of its Land Development pipeline.
78. The Council is taking strategic action to attempt to deal with the problems caused by the lack of suitable housing. This is not fault by the Council.

Complaints handling

79. The Council accepts that it did not comply with the timescales in its complaints policy in relation to Ms X’s stage one complaint and therefore did not provide a stage one complaint response. This is fault by the Council. Ms X did not suffer any injustice because the Council immediately escalated her complaint to stage two at her request.
80. Ms X also complains the Council did not respond to all of her complaint. Ms X’s original complaint was about:
• The number of bedrooms she was eligible for;
• The adaptation of properties;
• The length of time she had been waiting for housing;
• Whether any properties were being adapted for her now; and
• Why had an occupational therapist contacted her.
81. I have reviewed the Council’s complaint response. The complaint response was broken down into numbered sections corresponding to Ms X’s complaint. This is not fault by the Council.

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Final decision

82. I have found fault by the Council which did not cause Ms X injustice. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman