Summary: Mrs D complained the Council has failed to put her in the correct banding on the housing register. She also says the Council’s lettings scheme discriminates against disabled people in favour of those with families. We do not find the Council was at fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs D complained the Council has failed to put her in the correct banding on the housing register. She says she should be in a higher priority banding due to her mental and physical health disabilities which only her daughter can help with. Mrs D also says the Council’s lettings scheme discriminates against disabled people in favour of those with families. Finally, she says the Council has wrongly bypassed her property bids.
2. Mrs D says the Council’s fault has affected her ability to acquire suitable accommodation. This has caused her significant mental distress and her physical health has deteriorated.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information from Mrs D. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
6. Mrs D 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

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))

The Council’s lettings scheme

8. The Council applies qualifying criteria to decide who can join its housing register. Applicants will usually need to have a local connection to North Warwickshire before they can join. Applicants that have a local connection includes those who have close associations with family members who have lived in North Warwickshire for the last five years or more.
9. In exceptional circumstances the Council may accept applications from people who do not have a local connection to North Warwickshire if they meet one of the statutory reasonable preference categories and they have a need to move to the area. Their application will be given a lower priority than those applicants in the same category (priority) who have a local connection to North Warwickshire.
10. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which it advertises. To be eligible to bid on a property, applicants must join the waiting list. The Council will assess the applicant and place them in one of four bands.
11. Applicants with a medium medical need who have been assessed as requiring suitable alternative accommodation because their medical condition and/or disability is having a significant detrimental impact on their ability to live independently at home will be placed in Band 2. Applicants who need to move on the grounds of a serious welfare need will also be placed in Band 2.
12. Applicants who have an urgent need for rehousing will be placed in Band 1. This includes those who are unable to continue to occupy their current accommodation due to a high medical need or disability.

What happened

13. This chronology provides an overview of key events in this case and does not detail everything that happened.
14. Mrs D applied to join the Council’s housing register in April 2022. She said she wanted to move closer to her daughter for her support needs. Her daughter lives in the North Warwickshire area. The Council rejected Mrs D’s application. It said she did not have a local connection as her daughter had not lived in the area for the last five years or more.
15. Mrs D asked the Council to review its decision. The Council reviewed the medical and supporting information. It noted Mrs D has a weekly care plan and her daughter provides this care. It also noted it is only Mrs D’s daughter that can provide the care. It said even though Mrs D did not have a local connection, it would accept her onto its housing register because of her medical and welfare needs. It said she would have a lower priority than applicants in the same category who have a local connection to the area.
16. The Council wrote to Mrs D in June and placed her in Band 2 because of her high welfare need. It said she was eligible to bid for two-bedroom houses in her preferred area.
17. Mrs D complained to the Council in July about how it handled her housing application. She said she was unhappy it had placed her in Band 2. She raised further concerns about the type of property she could bid for.
18. The Council responded to Mrs D’s complaint. It said it had reviewed her medical information and Band 2 was appropriate for her circumstances. It said Band 2 is for applicants who have a high housing need. It said when it has a short list of applications for a vacancy it will consider those with a local connection above her application in accordance with its lettings scheme. It said it usually lets two-bedroom houses to families with young children. However, because of her circumstances, a flat was not appropriate and therefore it had decided to allow her to bid for houses and bungalows. It said it was sorry the team dealing with her application made a mistake and overlooked her specific circumstances. It confirmed it had updated her application.
19. Mrs D referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. She said it was discriminating against her because it was prioritising households with children over her application. She said she was struggling without her daughter’s support. The Council responded and said it had amended its usual practice to allow her to bid for houses. It said it had not discriminated against her and she had not been rehoused because of the scarce resources in the area.
20. Mrs D continued to contact the Council about its assessment of her housing application and how it was dealing with her bids for properties. The Council sent Mrs D a detailed letter in December. It explained it offered other applicants the properties she bid on because they had a local connection to the area. It also said applicants in Band 2 may have different housing needs to her.
21. Mrs D provided the Council with further medical evidence from her GP in January 2023. The GP detailed Mrs D’s medical conditions. He said Mrs D needs a lot of support from her daughter, and her daughter cannot travel to meet her care needs. Mrs D said this was evidence she qualified for Band 1.
22. The Council considered Mrs D’s further evidence. It wrote to her and said there was no new information. It said it had already considered her medical conditions and her support needs before it placed her in Band 2. It said Band 1 is for applicants in urgent need, such as those living in properties that are seriously detrimental to their health.
23. Mrs D sent the Council further information from her GP in March. The Council reviewed the information and said it was not sufficient to increase her priority to Band 1.

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Analysis

24. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
25. In Mrs D’s case, the Council has considered the supporting documentation she provided. It has decided she qualifies for Band 2, and it has written to her on several occasions to explain why. While Mrs D remains unhappy, there is no fault in how the Council made its decision.
26. Mrs D says the Council’s lettings scheme discriminates against disabled people in favour of those with families. There is no evidence of this. The Council explained to Mrs D to make the best use of its housing stock it usually offers two-bedroom houses to families with children. However, it has made an exception in Mrs D’s case because of her circumstances, and it has allowed her to bid on two-bedroom houses rather than flats. This shows the Council has had due regard to Mrs D’s disabilities and it is not applying a blanket policy.
27. Mrs D has provided me with some communication with officers about her property bids. In this communication Mrs D asked why she could not bid on certain two-bedroom houses. The Council explained it receives some stock from housing associations. The housing associations stipulate some properties are only suitable for applicants with children. The Council explained when it is advertising properties on behalf of the housing association, it cannot change the suitability criteria. This is a reasonable position for the Council to take and it cannot change the criteria of properties it does not own.
28. The Council has provided me with a list of properties Mrs D has placed a bid on that have been let to other applicants. In some cases, the applicants were in Band 1, or they had an earlier registration date than Mrs D. There are some cases where applicants in Band 2 with a later registration date than Mrs D were successful in securing a property. The Council has explained these applicants met the local connection requirement.
29. The Council’s lettings scheme states applicants who do not have a local connection to North Warwickshire will be given a lower priority than those applicants in the same band who do have a local connection. Mrs D does not have a local connection. Therefore, I do not accept Mrs D’s assertion the Council has wrongly bypassed her for properties. The Council has allocated properties in accordance with its lettings scheme.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation. The Council was not at fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman