Summary: Mr B complained the Council failed to properly consider his housing need and the supporting evidence he provided for his housing application. We find the Council was at fault for failing to address all the points from the evidence Mr B provided in support of his application. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained the Council failed to properly consider his housing need and the supporting evidence he provided for his housing application. He says it has negatively affected his and his partner’s mental health and they may have missed out on securing a property.

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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 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)
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 considered information from Mr B. I made written enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
5. Mr B 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

The Council’s housing allocations policy

6. 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))
7. The Council is part of Devon Home Choice. This is a choice-based lettings scheme where applicants bid for advertised properties. Local authority and housing association homes available to let will be advertised. Households with active applications on the Devon Home Choice housing register can look at details of the homes and apply for those they are eligible for. This is called bidding.
8. 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 five bands, from A to E.
9. Band B is for applicants who have a high housing need. This includes those who have a high health and wellbeing need. This means the applicant’s housing situation is so severely affecting their health and wellbeing that it is resulting in them being housebound, at risk of injury, relapse or unable to live independently.
10. Band C is for applicants who have a medium housing need. This includes applicants that lack one bedroom or have a medium health and wellbeing priority.
11. The Council places applicants who have a low health and wellbeing priority in Band D. This means the applicant’s housing situation is having a negative impact on their wellbeing but is not causing any significant deterioration to their health or ability to live independently.

What happened

12. Mr B updated his housing application in January 2023 to include his partner (Miss C) and his unborn child. Mr B stated in his application he was living in his car and Miss C was living in a rented house. Mr B stated he was not homeless or at risk of being homeless. He said due to Miss C’s previous abusive relationship and harassment from her neighbours, social services advised a fresh start would be best. He said he wanted to move closer to his family and support network.
13. Mr B’s and Miss C’s unborn child was subject to a child protection plan. A child protection plan is made when a child is at risk of harm. The social worker wrote a letter in support of the housing application. She said there was a chance Mr B’s and Miss C’s child was at risk if they grew up in the area due to Miss C’s past.
14. The Council reviewed Mr B’s application and placed him in Band C because he was lacking one bedroom. It said he had a low health and wellbeing need (Band D).
15. Mr B wrote to the Council in March and asked it to review its decision. He provided a further letter from the social worker. The social worker said Mr B’s and Miss C’s unborn child’s quality of life would be significantly improved if they moved closer to their family. She said their child needed to live in a location where support could be provided three times a week. This was not possible where Mr B and Miss C currently lived. She also said Miss C had a history of drug use and drug dealers lived in the local area. She said this impacted Miss C when she left the house, and it was causing the family distress.
16. The Council reviewed the further evidence. It wrote to Mr B in May and said it noted he wanted to move for family support. It said its policy states applicants whose quality of life would be greatly enhanced by living in a location that would allow family to provide support at least three times a week have a low health and wellbeing need (Band D). It said his current banding was correct and he would remain in Band C because he was lacking one bedroom.
17. Mr B remained unhappy and contacted the Ombudsman.
18. The Council has recently contacted Mr B and moved him to Band B because of his social need. It backdated his start date to January 2023. It also asked him if he wished to make a homelessness application. Mr B said he has two dogs, and he was not prepared to go into temporary accommodation without them. The Council told him to contact it if he changed his mind.

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Analysis

19. The social worker referred to the child protection process and Miss C’s history in her correspondence. She provided further information in her second letter. While the Council said it reviewed the social worker’s letter in its review response, it did not explicitly address Miss C’s history of drug use and the impact on the family of continuing to live in the area. It only referred to the support network which was only one part of the social worker’s letter. The Council should have addressed this and explained whether it affected its banding decision. Its failure to do so was fault. This caused Mr B frustration and gave him the impression the Council had not properly considered his evidence.
20. I welcome the Council has now reviewed this matter and updated Mr B’s housing application to Band B with a start date of January 2023. The Council says its original decision making was correct. However, Mr B did not send in any new information for it to change its decision, so I do not accept this. I have looked at details of other applicants in Band B who have secured a property to see whether Mr B’s chance of securing a permanent property has been affected by the delay in awarding him Band B. I do not consider it has. Most applicants who have recently secured a property have a start date earlier than January 2023.
21. The Council was at fault for not contacting Mr B sooner about his homelessness. Mr B said in his application he was not homeless, but he then said he was sleeping in his car. This is conflicting information and so the Council should have contacted him sooner to seek clarity and find out if he wanted to complete a homelessness application. However, I do not consider this fault has caused Mr B an injustice as he told the Council he was not keen on making an application as he was concerned his dogs would be rehomed. He also confirmed this in a telephone conversation with me. When the Council responded to my enquiries it said it had put measures in place to ensure it now raises further enquiries with customers if there is conflicting information about whether they are homeless. I welcome this.

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Agreed action

22. To address the injustice caused by fault, by 8 November 2023 the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B for the frustration caused.
23. By 6 December 2023 the Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure when they are dealing with housing applications they give proper scrutiny to supporting evidence and explain their reasons for not relying on evidence where they decide not to.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

25. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mr B an injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman