Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s delay in assessing his housing register application causing him stress. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council accepted fault and agreed to resolve Mr X’s complaint early by providing a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the delay in the Council assessing his housing register application. Mr X says the delay has caused him stress.

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My assessment

2. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault because Mr X has been waiting over a year for his housing application to be assessed.
3. The Council accepts it has a significant backlog of housing register applications which has caused a delay in its assessment of applications.
4. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused to Mr X by:
• providing Mr X with an explanation of the backlog,
• making a payment to Mr X of £100 to recognise the stress and uncertainty caused, and
• creating an action plan, with timescales, to clear the backlog.

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Agreed Action

5. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.
6. Additionally, the Council confirmed it will consider and offer appropriate remedies to applicants impacted by the delay who are assessed as Band 2 or higher.

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Final decision

7. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman