Summary: Miss B complained about the Council’s decision to close her housing application. The Council failed to provide clear information about the documents she needed to provide. This led to the closure of her housing application. The Council then failed to specify which documents she had not provided which caused avoidable frustration for Miss B and delayed her ability to join the housing register. The Council has agreed to assesses Miss B’s application and if she qualifies to join the register, backdate her award date. The Council will also apologise, makes a symbolic payment to Miss B and makes service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council closed her housing application as incomplete, despite her providing all the required documents. She says the Council has since told her that she did not provide enough documents, but she provided all the documents she has.
2. Miss B considers the Council’s decision to close her application was unreasonable, and as a result, she remains living in accommodation which has more bedrooms than she 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 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. All comments were considered before issuing this 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 C will be awarded when the applicant is under-occupying social rented housing by one bedroom.

Background and key events

12. Miss B lives in a two-bedroom housing association flat. In October 2024, she applied to join the Council’s housing register so that she could downsize to a one-bedroom property.
13. The application form listed the evidence she needed to provide with her application, such as ID, proof of address, and financial records. Miss B took her documents to the Council’s office, where they were scanned and attached to her application.
14. In November, 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 did not specify which of those documents Miss B had not provided. It advised her to reapply once she had provided all the required documents.

Analysis

Closure of application

15. The Council closed Miss B’s application because it considered she had not provided proof of her income for the last three months.
16. The Council failed to give clear information about the financial documents it needed Miss B to provide. The online application guidance, the allocation scheme and the application form all state that the applicant needs to provide financial records from the past three months relating to income and savings, without specifying exactly which documents it needs to see. The ‘Before you start’ section online provides a little more detail as it says the applicant needs to provide, “All financial records/bank statements for the three months prior to the date of application for each moving household member, for every separate account they hold”. However, it was not until Miss B’s application was closed that the Council clearly explained that it needed to see bank statements and wage slips for the last three months, or proof of benefit entitlement dated within the last month. The Council failed to be specific about the documents it needed to see when Miss B completed the application form. This was fault.
17. Miss B provided the annual updates she received about her state pension and benefits. It is unlikely that Miss B would have been able to provide more up to date evidence of this income. Miss B also receives a private pension but she only provided one wage slip, which was from several months earlier. However, the recent bank statements she provided showed that she had continued to receive the same income from her private pension each month. They also confirmed the state pension and benefits she received were as stated in the annual updates she provided. The Council had enough recent information to evidence Miss B’s income and it was unreasonable to close her application.
18. When the Council closed Miss B’s application, it did not specify exactly which documents it considered were missing, and so she was unsure what else she needed to provide. She was also not given any specific information when she called trying to find out why her application had been closed. This was fault. 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.

Review rights

19. The letter sent by the Council when closing Miss B’s application stated that she had no right to request a review of the decision, and her only recourse would be judicial review. It also advised Miss B that she could contact our office.
20. Miss B did not have a right to request a review because, by not providing all the required documents, the Council considered she had not made her application in accordance with its allocation scheme. However, Miss B did have the right to lodge a complaint with the Council about how it handled her application. The Council should have told Miss B about this right before referring her to our office.

Injustice

21. The Council’s failures have caused Miss B avoidable frustration and inconvenience and have delayed her ability to join the housing register. It is around seven months since Miss B originally applied to join the Council’s housing register. If there had been no fault in this case, it is likely that Miss B’s application would have been assessed by 29 November 2024. I do not consider it likely that Miss B has missed out on any properties.

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Action

22. Within four weeks of the final decision, the Council has agreed to take the following actions:
• Apologise to Miss B for the failings identified in this case. The Council should consider our guidance on remedies when making the apology.
• Make a payment of £100 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 and if she qualifies to join the housing register, it should backdate her award and registration date to 29 November 2024.
23. 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.
24. The Council says it has also amended its closure letter to ensure applicants are directed to its complaints procedure, rather than to our office.
25. Following our recommendations in similar cases, the Council has agreed to:
• Consider amending its procedures to give applicants additional time to submit missing documents before closing their applications, to prevent unnecessary delays. If the Council decides to continue closing 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.
• Ensure applicants are clearly informed about which documents are required, with consistent information across the allocation scheme, website, application form and any correspondence.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

27. The Council was at fault which caused injustice. The Council has agreed to take the actions I have recommended. This will be sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman