Summary: The Council delayed assessing Miss B’s housing application and then delayed carrying out a review of its decision that Miss B did not qualify to join the housing register. The Council has since accepted Miss B’s application to join the register. It has apologised to Miss B for the delays and it has backdated her registration date. We do not consider any further remedy is warranted.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council delayed assessing her housing application and then wrongly decided she did not qualify to join the housing register. Miss B says the Council then delayed reviewing its decision.
2. Miss B considers she may have missed out on an offer of social housing due to the Council’s delays.

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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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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 have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• considered the documents the Council has provided; and
• given the Council and the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Homelessness

6. The prevention duty applies when the council is satisfied that an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance. The council has a duty to help the applicant to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)
7. The relief duty applies when the council is satisfied that an applicant is homeless (rather than just threatened with homelessness) and eligible for assistance. The council has a duty to take reasonable steps to help the applicant secure accommodation that will be available for at least six months. (Housing Act 1996, section 189B and Homelessness Code of Guidance 13.2)
8. The prevention and relief duties will end when the council has complied with the prevention or relief duty and 56 days have passed (regardless of whether the applicant is still threatened with homelessness in the case of the prevention duty or whether they have secured accommodation in the case of the relief duty). (Housing Act 1996, sections 195 (8)(b) and 189B (7)(b)) and Homelessness Code of Guidance, chapter 14)
9. If homelessness is not successfully relieved, a council will owe the main housing duty to applicants who are eligible, have a priority need for accommodation and are not homeless intentionally. Under the main housing duty, councils must ensure that suitable accommodation is available for the applicant and their household until the duty is brought to an end, usually through the offer of a settled home. (Housing Act 1996, section 193(2))

Housing allocations

10. The Council’s housing allocations scheme sets out the rules for qualifying to join the Housing Register, how applicants are prioritised and how the Council manages the allocation of available properties.
11. The scheme places applicants in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band D (lowest priority). It says Band B will be awarded when the applicant is threatened with homelessness and owed the prevention duty. It says Band C will be awarded when the applicant is homeless but does not have a priority need.
12. Applicants will not qualify to join the housing register if they have been assessed as having no housing need and their circumstances do not warrant inclusion in any of the priority bands. They will also not usually qualify if they have a significant housing related debt.

Background and key events

13. Miss B applied to join the Council’s housing register in August 2022. At the time, she was living in a privately rented flat.
14. The Council assessed Miss B’s application in October. It decided Miss B did not qualify to join the register because she had an outstanding housing related debt.
15. Miss B immediately requested a review of the decision. She provided evidence to show that she did not have a housing debt.
16. In March 2023, Miss B made a homelessness application to the Council. She had been served an eviction notice by her landlord which required her to leave the property by 15 April. The Council accepted the homeless prevention duty to Miss B. It issued a personal housing plan which required Miss B to complete another housing application, which she did.
17. The Council considered Miss B’s request for a review of its decision that she did not qualify to join the housing register. It decided to close Miss B’s review because she had submitted another housing application. It said that her previous application had been superseded by her most recent application.
18. The Council assessed Miss B’s second application the following day. It decided that Miss B qualified to join the housing register. It awarded Band B because the Council owed Miss B the homeless prevention duty.
19. In May, Miss B moved from the prevention duty to the relief duty. This duty ended in July. The Council decided that Miss B was homeless but did not have a priority need.
20. As Miss B was no longer owed the prevention or relief duty, she no longer qualified for Band B. The Council reduced Miss B’s housing priority to Band C.
21. The Council accepts that it delayed assessing and reviewing Miss B’s housing application. To remedy this, the Council has apologised to Miss B and backdated her registration date to 13 September 2022.

Analysis

22. The Council took too long to assess Miss B’s housing application and carry out the review. This was fault. However, I do not consider the Council’s delay caused Miss B any significant injustice. This is because Miss B would not have qualified to join the register if her application had been assessed shortly after she applied in August 2022. She only qualified to join the housing register once the Council decided it owed her the homeless prevention duty in March 2023.
23. It would have been helpful if the Council had told Miss B that the outstanding housing debt was not the only reason she did not qualify to join the housing register. Miss B might not have requested a review if she had known that she would not qualify even if she was able to show that she did not have a housing debt.
24. The Council has accepted that it has ongoing delays in processing and reviewing housing applications. It has provided us with an action plan which shows the action it has taken and continues to take to reduce delays in dealing with housing applications and review requests.

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Final decision

25. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council but it did not cause Miss B any significant injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman