Summary: Mr B complained about the Council closing his housing applications. We find that the Council delayed assessing Mr B’s first application, closed his application as incomplete without specifying which documents he had not provided, and wrongly closed his second application as incomplete when he had provided all the necessary documents. This caused Mr B avoidable frustration and inconvenience. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mr B and backdate his award and registration date.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains that the Council closed his housing applications as incomplete, despite him providing all the required information. He says the Council failed to specify what information was missing and instead just told him to reapply.
2. Mr B says the Council’s actions have caused him frustration and inconvenience and have prevented him from joining the housing register. He says that his current accommodation is severely overcrowded.

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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 Mr B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr B and the Council have 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. The scheme places applicants in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band D (lowest priority). It says Band A will be awarded where the applicant is severely overcrowded due to lacking three or more bedrooms, and Band B will be awarded where the applicant is lacking two bedrooms.

Key events

12. Mr B lives in a four-bedroom house with his parents and six siblings. He applied to join the Council’s housing register in December 2023.
13. The application form outlined the required supporting documents, such as proof of identity, address, and financial records. Mr B submitted various documents with his application.
14. The form also required applicants to list all household members living at the same address, even if they were not moving with the applicant. In April 2024, the Council wrote to Mr B because he had not included these details. It asked Mr B to add each family member to his application and resubmit it within ten days, which he did.
15. In July, the Council wrote to Mr B to tell him that it had closed his application because it was incomplete. The letter stated that in order to validate and assess his application, all documents listed on the application form had to be submitted. It did not specify which of those documents had not been provided. It advised Mr B to reapply once he had provided all the required documents.
16. Mr B promptly submitted a second application with additional documents. However, in October 2024, the Council again rejected it as incomplete, again without specifying which documents were missing. The letter stated that Mr B had no right to request a review and referred him to our office.
17. After Mr B contacted us and we made enquiries of the Council, it acknowledged that Mr B had submitted all the required documents with his second application. It said that it would assess his application and, if he qualified to join the register, it would backdate his registration date to 1 October 2024.

Analysis

18. The Council took too long to assess Mr B’s first application. This was fault. We expect councils to assess housing register applications within eight weeks. The Council started to assess Mr B’s first application 20 weeks after he applied to join the register. It took a further 13 weeks to complete its assessment.
19. When the Council closed Mr B’s first application, it failed to specify which documents were missing. Instead, it listed all required documents. This lack of clarity was fault and left Mr B uncertain about what further evidence he needed to provide.
20. If there had been no delay by the Council, it would have contacted Mr B by 5 February 2024 asking him to add his family members to his application and specifying which other documents he needed to provide. If it had done so, I consider his application would have been accepted by 4 March 2024.
21. Where an application has been made in accordance with the Council’s housing allocation scheme, it must establish if the applicant is eligible and qualifies to join the register, and applicants have the right to request a review of this decision. The Council wrongly determined that Mr B’s second application had not been made in accordance with the scheme and so failed to establish if Mr B qualified to join the register and did not provide him with his review rights. This was fault. It also referred Mr B to our office, rather than directing him to its own complaints procedure.
22. The Council has recently assessed Mr B’s application and decided that since May 2025, when one of his brothers turned 21, his household has lacked three bedrooms and so he qualifies for a Band A award. It says that before May 2025, the household was lacking two bedrooms, and so Mr B qualified for a Band B award.
23. After considering the Council’s published data on average waiting times and Mr B’s area preferences, I do not consider it likely that Mr B has missed out on any housing offers. However, the Council’s failings will have caused Mr B frustration and inconvenience.
24. The Council has recently changed its procedures and it no longer closes applications as incomplete when the required documents have not been provided. Instead, it writes to applicants specifying which documents are missing and asking for them to be provided within ten days.

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Action

25. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr B for the failings identified in this case. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance when making the apology.
• Make a payment of £150 to Mr B. This is a symbolic payment to acknowledge the avoidable frustration and inconvenience caused by the Council’s actions.
• Backdate Mr B’s registration date to 4 March 2024 and his Band A award date to 28 May 2025.
26. The Council says that while there was a significant backlog in processing housing applications and carrying out reviews, this is no longer the case and it is assessing 95% of housing applications within eight weeks. I recommend that the Council provides evidence of this within eight weeks of my final decision.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman