Summary: Mr X complained the Council initially did not allow him to join its housing register, then after letting him join the housing register did not consider him for properties which had a planning restriction for local parish residents only. We have not found the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
• Initially did not allow him to join its housing register when he applied in 2022 and 2023.
• Has not considered him for properties which have a planning restriction to be firstly offered to local parish residents.
2. Mr X says as a veteran he should not be subject to these local connection criteria and is not being fairly considered for these properties.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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(1), as amended)

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaints that the Council did not allow him to join the housing register in 2022 and 2023. This is because these events happened over 12 months before Mr X complained to us. I can see no good reasons why he could have not complained to us sooner.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Housing allocations

9. 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))
10. 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))
11. Housing authorities can only allocate accommodation to those defined as qualifying persons. The law allows each council to decide who is, or is not, a qualifying person. This means the council may exclude a person from the register for any number of reasons including a history of rent arrears, anti-social behaviour or having no local connection. Members of the Armed forces cannot be excluded from a council housing scheme on the basis of having no connection with the area. (Allocation of accommodation: guidance for local authorities)

The Councils allocations scheme

12. The Council’s allocations scheme says there can be some legal restrictions on letting properties in a rural housing scheme or local letting scheme. To meet the local connection criteria for such a scheme, applicants will need to demonstrate a local connection with the Parish where the scheme is located rather than the district. The criteria for rural schemes will be detailed in the advertisement and the Council will only consider applicants who meet the criteria.
13. The Council’s allocations scheme says a local connection granted because of an association with the armed forces will not override a local connection criteria attached to rural or local letting schemes.

Section 106 agreements

14. Councils may approve applications, subject to a planning condition requiring the applicant to enter into a separate legal agreement. Council powers and appeal rights relating to these agreements are found in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The agreements are usually referred to as ‘section 106’ agreements. The agreements are in the form of a deed, which is a form of contract that is legally binding on the parties that sign it. They may be enforced in the county court.

What happened

15. Mr X is a military veteran.
16. In March 2024, the Council placed Mr X into Band C on its housing register.
17. In late 2024 and early 2025, Mr X placed bids on several properties within a development which had a section 106 agreement. The section 106 agreement said the affordable housing units were restricted to persons on the Council’s housing register with a local connection to the parish of the development. The section 106 agreement also said if there were not enough people to take up these properties with a local connection to the parish then they would be offered as normal on the Council’s housing register.
18. Mr X was not successful in bidding for these properties and the Council told him he did not have a local connection to the parish where the development was.
19. In early February 2025, Mr X complained to the Council, that it used a section 106 planning restriction to not allow him to bid on certain properties on its housing register. Mr X said he was an armed forces veteran and should be allowed to bid on these properties.
20. In late February 2025, the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. The Council said there were no exceptional circumstances to allow Mr X to have preference for these properties with a section 106 planning restriction. The Council said the reason planning was agreed for this development was so that the properties could go to those with a rural connection to the parish. The Council said Mr X’s former membership of the armed forces meant he did not need a local connection to join the housing register but this did not override local connection criteria attached to rural and local lettings policies.
21. Mr X asked the Council to consider his complaint at the next stage of its process. Mr X explained new law which came into force in December 2024 meant all former members of the armed forces were excluded from local connection criteria for social housing.
22. The Council provided its final response to Mr X’s complaint in March 2025. The Council said:
• Its housing allocations policy allowed armed forces veterans to join the housing register where non-armed forces personnel would be ineligible.
• Section 106 agreements confirm planning obligations on specific sites that are legally binding and enforceable. In the case of the development Mr X bid on, people with connections to that specific parish were prioritised as that formed part of the reasoning for the scheme being granted planning consent.
• The armed forces provisions do not supersede the individual legal requirements of Section 106 agreements. The Council said once the parish demand was exhausted it considered general demand from applicants on the housing register including Mr X. The Council said Mr X’s bids were in 44th place for these units.
23. Mr X remained dissatisfied and complained to the Ombudsman. Mr X said the Council should consider him for properties with a section 106 agreement as he is an armed forces veteran.

Analysis

24. The Council explained it did not prioritise Mr X for these properties with a section 106 agreement attached to them as he did not have a local connection to the parish. I do not consider the Council was at fault for how it decided this.
25. The argument Mr X makes about armed forces veterans being excluded from local connection rules applies to when they join the housing register. This means they cannot be excluded from joining the Council’s housing register due to not having a local connection. In this case Mr X has not been excluded from joining the housing register and can still place bids on properties which do not have a section 106 agreement attached to them. In its response to Mr X the Council said it also considered whether there were any other exceptional reason Mr X should be excluded and did not consider there were.
26. Mr X argues from December 2024 a statutory instrument came into force which changed the rules around armed forces veterans which allows them to bypass local connection rules. The government guidance on this statutory instrument refers to local lettings policies such as the one in this case. It allows councils to consider veterans for these schemes but this is discretionary.
27. The Council’s allocations policy says just because someone is a veteran does not allow them to override local letting or rural schemes. Therefore I am satisfied the Council has allocated these properties in line with its allocations policy.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman