Summary: Miss C complained the Council wrongly suspended her housing register bidding account and then failed to remove the suspension despite repeated assurances it would do so. Miss C said she missed bidding opportunities as a result. We have found the Council at fault for failing to reinstate Miss C’s account from the date she provided the necessary information. The Council will apologise, make payments and take action to improve services in the future.

The complaint

1. Miss C complained the Council wrongly suspended her housing register bidding account and then failed to remove the suspension despite advising it would do so. Miss C said this prevented her from bidding for over 5 months and she may have missed opportunities to successfully bid on suitable accommodation.

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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. As part of the investigation I have:
• Considered the complaint and the documents provided by Miss C;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered its response;
• Spoken to Miss C.
• Miss C and the Council had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision. I considered any comments I received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legal and Administrative Background

5. The Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme:
• Sets out that it will conduct credit reference check to verify the information provided on an applicant’s housing application to reduce tenancy fraud. Verification audits are conducted at the point of application and at the point of an offer of accommodation.

• Details the process for housing offers being made. If a customer does not reply to an invitation to view a property within two working days of receiving an offer then the offer will be deemed to have been refused and the property will be offered to the next customer who qualifies for that offer.

6. The Council’s Housing Allocations Scheme does not set out the Council’s process for suspending a bidding account in the event it does not receive a response to a housing offer within 48 hours.

Key Events

7. Miss C has been on the Council’s housing register since April 2020.
8. In June 2023 the Council offered Miss C a property. The Council asked for a response, including verification details, within 48 hours. The email advised Miss C if she did not respond within 48 hours, the Council would offer the property to the next eligible bidder. The email did not advise Miss C her account would be suspended if she did not respond.
9. Miss C did not respond to the Council’s email within 48 hours, so the Council cancelled the property offer and suspended Miss C’s bidding account in July 2023.
10. Miss C responded to the Council’s offer in July 2023, providing the verification information. The Council did not respond to this information and did not lift Miss C’s account suspension.
11. Miss C sent a further email to the housing officer on 25 July 2023, asking the Council to reinstate her bidding account. She then sent a stage one complaint the following day.
12. The Council issued a stage one complaint response, advising it would reinstate the account, however the suspension remained in place. Miss C sent a stage two complaint.
13. The Council’s stage two complaint response, issued in September 2023, wrongly advised Miss C it had lifted the account suspension.
14. The Council has provided evidence it reinstated Miss C’s bidding account on 01 December 2023. Miss C accessed her account and bid for a property on 4 January 2024.
15. Miss C was unable to bid on properties for a period of 21 weeks between July 2023 and December 2023. During the time Miss C was unable to access her bidding account, she missed as many as 46 opportunities to successfully bid on properties.
16. The Council made Miss C a direct offer for a property in March 2024.
17. The Council has said it is currently in the process of drafting a new Housing Allocations Policy which will be implemented after September 2024.

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Agreed action

18. Within one month of my final decision, the Council will :
• Pay Miss C £1000 in recognition of the distress and missed opportunities from when her account was suspended in July 2023 up to the point it was reinstated in December 2023. This equates to £200 per month for the time Miss C was unable to access her account.
• Pay Miss C £250 in recognition of the time and trouble Miss C has spent in pursuing the complaint.
• Provide a written apology to Miss C for the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.
19. Within three months of my final decision, the Council will revise the wording of the email sent to applicants when it requests verification audit information to inform applicants their account will be suspended should they not respond within 48 hours.
20. Within seven months of my final decision the Council will update us on its progress in revising its Housing Allocations Policy and future plans for completion, including details of its verification audit process, and possibilities for account suspension.
21. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

22. We uphold this complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused an injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman