Summary: The Council delayed assessing Mrs X’s housing application and reviewing its decision. These delays did not cause Mrs X any significant injustice. There was no fault in the way the Council decided that Mrs X did not qualify to join its housing register.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council failed to consider information she provided to show that she qualifies to join its housing register. She says that she provides care for her grandmother and her current accommodation is too far away and is too expensive. Mrs X says the Council’s failings have affected her mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• discussed the issues with the complainant;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and 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

Housing Allocation Scheme

5. 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.
6. Applicants who are not resident in the council’s area and do not have a minimum of two years continuous connection to the area will not normally qualify to join the register.
7. Applicants who can prove they have a continuing caring responsibility for someone who is resident in the council’s area, and that this care could not be provided unless they were resident in the council’s area, are exempt from the local connection requirements.

Background and key events

8. Mrs X joined the Council’s housing register in around 2018.
9. In April 2022, Mrs X submitted a change of circumstances form to show that she had moved to a privately rented property in a neighbouring council area in November 2020.
10. The Council assessed the form in October 2022 and decided that Mrs X did not have a local connection to its area and no longer qualified to be on the housing register.
11. Mrs X requested a review of the Council’s decision. She said that she provided care for her grandmother who lived in Birmingham, and she needed to live nearby because she could not afford the travel costs. Mrs X provided evidence that she received carer’s allowance, but it did not include the name and address of the person she cared for.
12. In April 2023, the Council telephoned Mrs X about her application. Mrs X confirmed that her application included her teenage daughter and adult son, but that her son was living at a different address. She confirmed their addresses and provided her grandmother’s address. The Council then wrote to Mrs X to advise that she needed to correct the addresses on her application. It also asked Mrs X for proof of her grandmother’s name and address and for evidence to show why her son needed to leave his current address. The Council told Mrs X that she needed to provide this information within 10 working days.
13. The Council says Mrs X did not provide the evidence it requested. In May 2023 it wrote to Mrs X with its decision that she did not qualify to join the register because she had not provided evidence to show that she cared for someone who lived in Birmingham.

Analysis

14. After Mrs X provided her grandmother’s address over the telephone, the Council checked its records and could not find anyone with her grandmother’s name at that address. The address recorded in the Council’s note of the telephone conversation is slightly different to the address Mrs X has provided to us. I cannot say whether Mrs X provided the wrong address over the telephone, or if the officer wrote it down incorrectly, but regardless, I consider it was reasonable for the Council to ask for proof of the address.
15. Mrs X says that she provided this proof but she has been unable to provide any evidence of this, and the Council’s records do not suggest that Mrs X responded to its request for proof.
16. As the Council did not receive any evidence to show that Mrs X provided care for her grandmother, it decided that she did not qualify to join the housing register. I have found no fault in the way it reached this decision.
17. The Council significantly delayed assessing Mrs X’s change of circumstances form and reviewing its decision. This was fault, but I do not consider it caused Mrs X any significant injustice.

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Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs X’s complaint. There was fault by the Council but it did not caused Mrs X any significant injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman