London Borough of Enfield (24 010 794)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Miss X complained how the Council handled her application to join the housing register. She also complained the Council’s housing allocations scheme is discriminatory. We find the Council was at fault for failing to address all of Miss X’s points in her review request. This caused her frustration. The Council has agreed to our recommendation to apologise to Miss X for the frustration caused.
The complaint
- Miss X complained how the Council handled her application to join the housing register. She says it failed to consider her and her family’s circumstances. She also complained the Council’s housing allocations scheme is discriminatory towards African families.
- Miss X says the matter has caused distress and upset to her and her children.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information from Miss X and the Council.
- Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
Housing allocations
- 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))
- An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants who are in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing.
The Council’s housing allocations scheme
- The section of the Council’s housing allocations scheme on insanitary or unsuitable housing states it will assess whether the private sector property the applicant lives in:
- Has significant hazards, and/or
- Is uninhabitable, and/or
- Could be improved through informal or formal enforcement activity.
- Applicants who are key workers can apply to join the Council’s housing register. The Council defines key workers as people in professions that are important to maintaining local services. The key worker’s main place of work must be in Enfield.
What happened
- Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register in June 2024. She said in her application form she is a nurse and is therefore a keyworker. She did not highlight any disrepair issues in her property in the application.
- The Council rejected Miss X’s application. It said a nurse is a keyworker, but as she did not work in Enfield and she is not employed on a permanent contract, she did not meet the keyworker criteria. It said it could not identify any reason to award her reasonable preference.
- Miss X asked the Council to review its decision. She said she had lived in the borough for more than three years. She also said she is employed as a nurse on a permanent contract, and she lives in a house that is mouldy and infested with rodents. She said this was affecting her and her children’s health.
- The Council issued its final decision in August. It re-iterated its previous response about not meeting the keyworker criteria.
- After Miss X referred her complaint the Ombudsman in September, she made a second application in October to join the housing register. She included the disrepair issues and provided some further information that she did not provide in her first application.
Analysis
- The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. It is not our role to decide whether Miss X is eligible for social housing; that is the Council’s responsibility. Our role is to review whether the Council properly considered Miss X’s evidence and circumstances and made its decision in line with its published housing allocations scheme.
- Miss X highlighted disrepair issues in her property when she asked for a review. The Council failed to address this when it issued its response to her review request. This is fault and not in accordance with the section of the Council’s housing allocations scheme on insanitary or unsuitable housing (paragraph nine of this statement). This caused Miss X frustration, and she cannot be satisfied the Council properly considered her review. We would usually ask a council to carry out a new review where we have found fault with how it has considered a housing application/review request. However, in this case, Miss X has made a second application to join the housing register which the Council has now issued its decision on. Miss X can ask the Council to review its new decision if she is unhappy. Therefore, I have not recommended the Council carries out a review of her first application. If Miss X remains dissatisfied with how the Council responds to her second application, she can make a further complaint.
- Miss X says the Council has not treated her fairly because of her ethnicity. She also says the Council’s housing allocations scheme is discriminatory towards African families. I have seen no evidence the Council has treated Miss X unfairly because of her ethnicity or that its allocations scheme is discriminatory. Therefore, I do not uphold this part of Miss X’s complaint.
Agreed action
- By 9 April 2025 the Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X for the frustration caused by failing to address all her points when it responded to her review request.
- The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.
Final decision
- There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendation and so I have completed my investigation.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman