Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s decision to close the housing application made by his sister, Mrs B. We find that the Council wrongly decided Mrs B’s application was incomplete, despite her submitting all the required evidence. This caused avoidable frustration for Mrs B and delayed her ability to join the housing register. The Council has agreed to assess Mrs B’s application and backdate her award date if she qualifies to join the register. It has also agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mrs B and make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Mr X is complaining on behalf of his sister, Mrs B. He complains that the Council closed Mrs B’s housing application as incomplete, despite providing all the required documents. He says the Council failed to tell Mrs B which documents it considered to be missing and its decision to close her application without allowing her to request a review was unfair.
2. Mr X says that as a result of the Council’s actions, Mrs B remains living in accommodation which is unsuitable for her medical or mobility needs.

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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 X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X 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. Mrs B lives in a one-bedroom first-floor council flat. In August 2024, she applied to join the Council’s housing register. She provided evidence to show that she needed ground floor accommodation with a level access shower due to her mobility difficulties. She also said that her current accommodation was affecting her mental health, and she provided supporting medical evidence.
14. In October, the Council wrote to Mrs 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, she needed to submit all the documents listed on the application form, which included ID, proof of address, and financial records. It advised her to reapply once she had uploaded all the required documents.
15. Mr X contacted the Council because he believed all the required documents had been submitted with the application. He says he was told that Mrs B had failed to provide bank statements covering a three-month period.
16. Mrs B then emailed the Council because she had submitted bank statements covering a three-month period and she did not know what else she needed to provide. She said it was unfair to close her application without specifying which documents it considered were missing.
17. In the Council’s response, it referred Mrs B to the list of required documents without specifying which of those documents it considered she had not provided.
18. Mr X then approached us because the Council told Mrs B that she had no right to request a review of its decision to close her application.

Analysis

Closure of application

19. When Mrs B applied to join the register, she submitted numerous documents to show that she was eligible and qualified to join the register, as well as medical evidence relating to her medical and mobility needs.
20. The Council’s housing allocation scheme does not require transfer applicants, like Mrs B, to provide proof of their eligibility because the law says that existing tenants are eligible for a further allocation of social housing accommodation. However, the Council asks all applicants to provide this evidence. The Council says this is 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.
21. When the Council wrote to Mrs B to tell her that it had closed her application, it 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.
22. The Council completed a checklist when it was checking the documents Mrs B had provided. It shows that the officer considered she had provided ID and proof of address, but that she had failed to provide three months of financial records. Mrs B had provided three months of bank statements, which showed her income. Mr X says that she also provided separate evidence of her benefit entitlement, but there is no evidence of this in the Council’s records.
23. Under the Housing Act 1996, where an application has been made in accordance with the Council’s housing allocation scheme, councils must establish if the applicant is eligible and qualifies to join the register. In this case, the Council did not decide if Mrs B was eligible and whether she qualified because it considered she had failed to provide all the required documents, and so her application had not been made in accordance with the scheme. However, the allocations scheme only requires applicants to provide financial records relating to income and savings. Mrs B did provide a bank statement covering a three-month period as evidence of her income and savings, and so I consider her application was made in accordance with the scheme. I consider the Council failed to comply with its legal duty to decide if she was eligible and qualified to join the register. This was fault. If the Council had made a decision on eligibility and qualification, Mrs B would have had a right to request a review of the decision.
24. The letters sent by the Council when closing Mrs B’s application stated that she had no right to request a review of the decision, and her only recourse would be judicial review. They also advised Mrs B that she could contact our office. I consider the Council should have told Mrs B that she could lodge a complaint with the Council about its handling of her application, before it referred her to our office.

Injustice

25. The Council’s failures have caused Mrs B avoidable frustration and inconvenience and have delayed her ability to join the housing register. It has been over 7 months since Mrs B originally applied to join the Council’s housing register. If there had been no fault in this case, I consider it likely that Mrs B’s application would have been assessed by 20 October 2024. I do not consider it likely that Mrs B has missed out on any properties.

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Action

26. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mrs B for the failings identified in this case. The Council should consider our guidance on remedies when making the apology.
• Make a payment of £150 to Mrs B. This is a symbolic payment to recognise the avoidable frustration and inconvenience caused by the Council’s actions.
• Assess Mrs B’s application. If she qualifies to join the housing register, it will backdate her award and registration date to 20 October 2024.
27. 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.
28. The Council says it has also amended its closure letter to ensure applicants are directed to its complaints procedure, rather than to our office.
29. 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.
• 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 when the applicant has provided the documents listed in paragraph 2.2.3 of its housing allocation scheme.
• Consider 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.
30. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

31. I have completed my investigation and uphold the complaint. There was fault which caused injustice. The actions the Council has agreed to take are 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