Summary: Miss B complained about the Council’s decision to close her housing applications. We find that the Council failed to clearly communicate the consequences of not providing supporting documents, requested unnecessary evidence and then wrongly decided her application was incomplete, despite her submitting all the required evidence. This led to the closure of her applications which caused avoidable frustration for Miss B and delayed her ability to join the housing register. The Council has agreed to assess Miss B’s application and, if she qualifies to join the register, it will backdate her award date. It has also agreed to apologise to Miss B, make a symbolic payment to her, and carry out service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council took too long to consider her housing application and then closed it because it did not consider she had provided all the documents required to assess and validate her application. She says that instead of allowing her to supply additional documents, the Council told her she would have to make a fresh housing application.
2. Miss B considers the Council’s actions were unreasonable, and as a result, she remains living in accommodation which is affecting her nephew’s health.

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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. 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

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Housing allocations

7. Every local housing authority must publish an allocation 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))
8. Every application made to a local housing authority for an allocation of housing accommodation shall (if made in accordance with the procedural requirements of the authority’s allocation scheme) be considered by the authority. In considering applications, authorities must ascertain:
• if an applicant is eligible for an allocation of accommodation, and
• if he or she qualifies for an allocation of accommodation. (Allocation of accommodation: guidance for local housing authorities in England, paragraph 3.2 and Housing Act 1996, section 166(3))
9. Applicants have the right to request a review of a decision that they are ineligible for an allocation, or that they are not a qualifying person. (Housing Act 1996, section 160ZA(9) and section 166A(9))
10. Paragraph 2.2.3 of the Council’s housing allocation scheme says:

“In addition to the application, the following documents (where available) must be submitted as evidence, via the Scheme website to verify the information provided by the main applicant, plus any other person who might reside with the applicant who might wish to become a joint tenant:

1. Passport, to help determine eligibility to rent social housing in England.
2. A utility or Council Tax bill from the past three months, to help determine eligibility to rent social housing in England.
3. Birth certificate, to help determine qualification to join the Scheme.
4. Details of any relevant unspent convictions, to help determine qualification to join the Scheme.
5. All financial records from the past three months relating to income and savings, to help determine qualification to join the Scheme.
6. All legal records relating to property ownership to help determine qualification to join the Scheme.
7. Any other information that helps to determine eligibility to rent social housing in England, qualification to join the Scheme or making a community contribution.”
1. Paragraph 2.2.9 says, “The Local Authority will accept applications from current tenants of Birmingham City Council (including tenants of Registered Providers), for transfers (“Transfer Applicants”) to alternative social rented housing available in Birmingham.”
2. Paragraph 2.2.10 says, “The Local Authority will initially treat Transfer Applicants in the same way as all other applicants, except that there will be no inquiries made about eligibility. This is because the law dictates that all current tenants of social housing are eligible for a further allocation of social housing accommodation regardless of their immigration or habitual residence status.”

Background and key events

13. Miss B lives with her nephew in a two-bedroom council flat. In May 2024, she applied to join the Council’s housing register. She said that mould in the flat was affecting her nephew’s health.
14. The application form listed the evidence she needed to provide with her application, such as ID, proof of address, and financial records. Miss B submitted a copy of her passport and medical evidence, but she did not provide any financial records.
15. In August, the Council wrote to Miss B to tell her that it had closed her application because it was incomplete. The letter stated that in order to validate and assess her application, all documents listed on the application form had to be submitted. It advised her to reapply once she had uploaded all the required documents.
16. Miss B reapplied in August and provided copies of her bank statements and proof of her income. However, in October, the Council closed Miss B’s application because it considered it was also incomplete. Its letter stated that she needed to submit all the documents listed on the application form. It did not specify which of those documents Miss B had not provided.
17. After contacting the Council, Miss B was told that some bank statements were missing, the bank statements provided did not include her name and address, and she had not provided proof of her address.

Analysis

Closure of applications

18. When the Council determines that a housing applicant has not provided all the required documents, it closes the application without offering the applicant the opportunity to provide any missing documents. This approach has caused delays for applicants because they have to reapply and wait for the Council to consider their next application.
19. The Council’s website warns applicants that failure to provide the required documentation may result in the closure of their application. However, this warning is not included on the application form itself. I consider the Council failed to adequately warn Miss B of the potential consequences of not providing the required documents. This was fault. Had Miss B been properly informed, she would likely have submitted the required documents with her initial application.
20. Miss B provided all the required documents when she reapplied in August. The Council says that some bank statements were missing, and some did not include her details, but this is not the case. Miss B provided the required three months of bank statements, and they included her name and address.
21. The Council also stated that Miss B failed to provide proof of her address. While Miss B did not submit a council tax or utility bill, she provided several official documents which included her address. In any event, according to the allocation scheme, transfer applicants like Miss B do not need to provide evidence of their eligibility, such as proof of their address.
22. The Council says that it asks transfer applicants to provide evidence of eligibility because it uses a single application form for both general and transfer applicants and its system does not allow it to separate new applicants from existing tenants. It says its approach also ensures that applicants who mistakenly state they are council tenants, such as those in temporary accommodation, are not unfairly disadvantaged by having their application closed due to a failure to provide proof of eligibility. I do not consider the Council’s reasoning justifies imposing unnecessary documentation requirements on transfer applicants.
23. When the Council closed Miss B’s second application, its letter did not specify exactly which documents it considered were missing, and so she was unsure what else she needed to provide. The Council says that it has since changed its procedures to ensure that its letters specify the documents the applicant needs to provide when reapplying.
24. Under the Housing Act 1996, when an application is made in accordance with a council’s housing allocation scheme, the council must determine whether the applicant is eligible and qualifies to join the register. In this case, the Council did not make this decision because it considered Miss B’s applications had not been made in accordance with the scheme due to the missing documents. However, Miss B’s second application did meet the scheme’s requirements. The scheme does not require transfer applicants to provide proof of eligibility, and Miss B submitted all other required documents. I consider the Council failed to comply with its legal duty to decide if she qualified to join the register. This was fault.

Review rights

25. The letters sent by the Council when closing Miss B’s applications stated that she had no right to request a review of the decision, and her only recourse would be judicial review. They also advised Miss B that she could contact our office.
26. Under the Housing Act 1996, applicants have the right to request a review of a decision on eligibility or qualification. As Miss B did not provide all the required documents with her initial application, it was not made in accordance with the scheme and so the Council did not need to decide if she qualified to join the register. While she did not have the right to request a review, she would still have had a right to lodge a complaint with the Council about how it handled her application. I consider the Council should have told Miss B about this right before referring her to our office.
27. Miss B’s second application was made in accordance with the requirements of the Council’s allocation scheme. It therefore had a duty to decide if she qualified to join the register, and to inform her of her right to request a review of this decision. The Council did not do so; this was fault.

Injustice

28. The Council’s failures have caused Miss B avoidable frustration and inconvenience and have delayed her ability to join the housing register. It has been over 11 months since Miss B originally applied to join the Council’s housing register. If there had been no fault in this case, I consider it likely that Miss B’s application would have been assessed by 3 August 2024. I do not consider it likely that Miss B has missed out on any properties.

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Action

29. The Council says that it changed its processes in November 2024 and since then, its closure letter includes the specific information the applicant is required to provide. It says it no longer requests evidence which has already been provided.
30. The Council says it has also amended its closure letter to ensure applicants are directed to its complaints procedure, rather than to our office.
31. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Miss B for the failings identified in this case. The Council will consider our guidance on remedies when making the apology.
• Make a payment of £200 to Miss B. This is a symbolic payment to acknowledge the avoidable frustration and inconvenience caused by the Council’s actions.
• Assess Miss B’s application. If she qualifies to join the housing register, it will backdate her award and registration date to 3 August 2024.
32. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within eight weeks of my final decision:
• Review the documents required for new applicants and existing tenants, ensuring that applicants are not asked to provide unnecessary evidence. It will also ensure that staff training is provided to ensure that officers are aware of the different evidence requirements for each applicant type.
• Review its procedures to ensure it assesses applications which have been made in accordance with the allocation scheme. Unless the Council changes its allocation scheme, it will not consider applications to be incomplete because a transfer applicant has not provided evidence of their eligibility.
• Considers amending its procedures to give applicants additional time to submit missing documents before their application is closed, to prevent unnecessary delays.
• If the Council continues to close applications without giving applicants an opportunity to submit any missing documents, it will amend the application form to include a clear warning about the consequences of not submitting all required evidence.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

34. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman