Summary: Mr B complains the Council delayed updating his housing application. The Council was at fault. We consider it has provided an appropriate remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complains the Council took over six months to respond to his housing application change of circumstances notification. He says it also delayed responding to his complaints. As a result, he was put to time and trouble.

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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 have discussed the complaint with Mr B and considered the information he provided. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and the documents it provided. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

5. 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)).
6. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:
• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others; (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))

The Council’s scheme

7. The Council has a banding scheme which prioritises applications from band 1 to 4. Band 1 is the highest priority and Band 4 is the lowest priority. The criteria for each band is described in the Council’s scheme.
8. The Council’s housing allocations policy requires applicants to inform the Council of any changes in their circumstances which affect their housing application. This includes adding additional family members to their application and changes in their medical condition or disability.

What happened

9. Mr B applied to the Council’s housing register in 2021. He was living in his mother’s home. As a single person without priority need, he was awarded band 4, the lowest priority.
10. Mr B did not hear from the Council about his original housing application and so in May 2023 he completed a new housing application form.
11. In July 2023 Mr B completed a change in circumstances form adding his partner to his application. He said that his partner was pregnant. Mr B provided evidence of his partner’s identity and income. Mr B’s mother said she had asked him and his partner to leave because the property was overcrowded, and arguments caused tension and stress.
12. Mr B did not hear from the Council regarding his change in circumstances. It had advised him that it would take 28 days or more. After 28 days he asked for an update. The Council did not reply.
13. In September 2023 Mr B complained to the Council that it had not responded to his change of circumstances or his request for an update. He said that the Council’s service was poor. In October, as he had not received a reply, Mr X called the Council.
14. The next day the Council replied at stage one of its procedure. This response was one week overdue according to the Council’s complaint procedure. The Council did not uphold Mr B’s complaint. It said it had not found a record of Mr B’s completed change of circumstances form. The Council confirmed Mr B had completed a housing application form in 2021 and it had awarded him band 4 priority. It said he had an active application and was eligible to bid for one-bedroom properties.
15. The Council said it had received a further housing application from Mr B in May 2023 and it also received documents regarding his partner in July 2023. It said it had contacted the relevant department to check if it had received a change in circumstances form and was waiting for a response. The Council said Mr B could complete an online change of circumstances form.
16. In October Mr B emailed the Council in response. He said that:
• The Council had not confirmed his application form was received and processed in 2021 or advised him he was in priority band 4.
• He had completed a further housing application in May 2023 because he did not know what had happened to his original application in 2021.
• He had completed a change of circumstances form on 7 July and handed it in to a Council premises (local library). The officer who received it then advised him to provide further documents which he did.
• The Council had said it would check with the department whether it had received the change in circumstances form. He asked it to confirm the outcome as soon as possible so that he could complete a new form and avoid delays.
17. On 18 October, ten days after receiving it, the Council acknowledged Mr B’s complaint at stage two of its procedure. It said it would reply by 22 November 2023. It updated him later that it would respond by 29 December 2023. However, the Council had not replied by January 2024.
18. Mr B complained to the Ombudsman in early January 2024.
19. Later in January 2024 Mr B advised the Council regarding the birth of his child.
20. On 17 January 2024 the Council responded at stage two of its procedure. It apologised for its delay and upheld Mr B’s complaint.
• It noted that Mr B had contacted it after its stage one response and provided clarification. However, the Council had not picked this up and investigated. If it had, it would have saved Mr B time and trouble and he would not have had to escalate his complaint further to the Ombudsman.
• The Council said it had contacted Mr B and discussed his complaint that it had not updated his application since July 2023. The Council confirmed Mr B’s application was active and that his partner and child had now been added.
• The Council confirmed Mr B’s priority was now band 3 and he was eligible to bid for two-bedroom properties.
• The Council explained it was dealing with processing a huge backlog of applications and changes in circumstances. However, it said it must find a way to deal with this more efficiently. Applicants should not have to complain in order to progress their applications.
• The Council apologised and offered Mr B a financial remedy of £50 for the late response to his stage two complaint. It also offered Mr B £100 for his time and trouble in raising complaints.
21. In its response to our enquiries the Council explained that
• it had updated Mr B’s application in October 2023 adding his partner. However, this had not increased Mr B’s priority and his bedroom need remained as one bedroom.
• It had updated Mr B’s application in January within a few days of receiving information about his child. This led to an increased priority band 3 because Mr B’s household was considered overcrowded from January 2024.
• If the Council had updated his change in circumstances earlier in July or August 2023, and Mr B had bid, he would not have had any offers of accommodation.
• The Council had added Mr B’s partner and his child without verifying their occupation of Mr B’s home as it should. It would now seek evidence of this.
22. In response to our enquiry about how it addressed the backlog the Council confirmed it had an outstanding backlog of change in circumstances of 3237 in July 2023. It says it had effectively cleared the backlog by February 2024.
23. It did this by providing extra resources such as overtime, temporary staff and an additional permanent member of staff. The Council says it has also updated its process by allowing customers to submit documents at the first point of contact. It also plans to review its allocations scheme and will review the structure and resources required to manage the level of review requests it receives.
24. The Council says from February 2024 it has turned its attention to reducing the backlog of housing register applications. The backlog has reduced from 3541 in February 2024. It will continue to increase the resources in this area and will review its processes to ensure it achieves maximum efficiency.
25. The Council says that it has doubled the number of officers responding to complaints. This should prevent the delays Mr B experienced.

Analysis

26. There was fault by the Council in dealing with Mr B’s change in circumstances from July 2023. The Council should have revised Mr B’s application by the end of August 2023. The Council also temporarily appears to have lost Mr B’s change in circumstances form. This led to Mr B chasing an update and raising a complaint.
27. The Council’s delay caused Mr B frustration and time and trouble. However, as his priority banding did not change, he would not have missed out on any potential offers if it had updated his application on time and he had bid for properties.
28. Mr B’s housing priority changed to band 3 in January 2024 when the Council added his child to the application. There was no delay by the Council as it applied the correct effective date of January 2024. There is no fault by the Council here.
29. The Council has also noted a further fault as it did not verify Mr B’s partner’s occupancy of his home. It should have requested evidence. It will request evidence or carry out its own checks. This fault has not caused injustice to Mr B.
30. The Council took more than three months to reply to Mr B’s stage two complaint. It should have replied in four weeks. Mr B had to bring his complaint to the Ombudsman before the Council replied. This was fault by the Council.
31. The Council’s personal remedy of £150 due to its delay in responding to his change in circumstances and his complaint and appears to remedy the injustice to Mr B. I have considered the Ombudsman’s Guidance on remedies when coming to this view.
32. The Council has taken action to tackle the backlog of change in circumstances requests, and is now taking action on new housing applications. I consider this will prevent others being affected by the delays Mr B experienced.

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Final decision

33. There was fault by the Council. It has provided a suitable remedy for the injustice it caused Mr B. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman