Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to add her child’s birth certificate to her housing application. The Council was at fault. It failed to add the birth certificate which meant Ms X was unable to bid on suitable properties for nearly two years. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and make a payment to acknowledge the distress the delay caused. Additionally, the Council agreed to prioritise offering Ms X a suitable two-bedroom property as soon as possible.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to add her child’s birth certificate onto her housing application.
2. Ms X said the situation caused her avoidable distress and frustration and meant she was unable to bid on two-bedroom properties up until April 2024 and lived in unsuitable temporary accommodation in November 2022 which she remained in for five months. She wants the Council to allocate her a two-bedroom property.

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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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What I have and have not investigated

5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. Ms X said the Council allocated her unsuitable temporary accommodation where she stayed in from November 2022 until March 2023. This part of Ms X’s complaint is late and there is no good reason why she could not have complained to us sooner.
7. Therefore, I have not investigated the Council’s allocation of unsuitable temporary accommodation to Ms X in 2022. However, I have investigated the Council’s failure to add her child’s birth certificate to her housing application until April 2024, and how it proposed to remedy the resulting injustice to Ms X.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

Applications and Homelessness

10. If someone contacts a council seeking accommodation or help to obtain accommodation and gives ‘reason to believe’ they ‘may be’ homeless or threatened with homelessness within 56 days, the council has a duty to make inquiries into what, if any, further duty it owes them.
11. If a council is satisfied an applicant is unintentionally homeless, eligible for assistance, and has a priority need the council has a duty to secure that accommodation is available for their occupation. This is called the main housing duty. The accommodation a council provides until it can end this duty is called temporary accommodation. (Housing Act 1996, section 193)

The Council’s allocation policy

12. 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))
13. The Council’s allocations scheme has four bands. Band one contains the applicants in the highest housing need, and Band four the applicants in lowest need.

Choice based lettings

14. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme which enables housing applicants to bid for available properties which it advertises

What happened

15. Ms X made a housing application in 2021 while she was pregnant. The Council allocated her interim temporary accommodation the same month.
16. In January 2022 the Council moved Ms X into another temporary accommodation where she remained until November 2022.
17. In February 2022 the Council accepted the main housing duty and placed her in band 3 which made her eligible to bid on one-bedroom properties.
18. In May 2022 Ms X’s child was born and she submitted their birth certificate to the Council to update her application. The Council should have updated Ms X’s application which would have enabled her to bid for two-bedroom properties at this stage.
19. In November 2022, the Council allocated Ms X and her child new temporary accommodation—a one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a property.
20. Ms X was unhappy with the placement, she reported frequent incidents of anti-social behaviour and stated the top floor location was unsafe for her baby, who could have fallen down the staircase. She asked the Council for a suitability review of the accommodation.
21. In February 2023 the Council concluded its suitability review and informed Ms X it had allocated her the property as it was suitable for a single person but not for a mother and child. It asked Ms X to provide the child’s birth certificate as evidence she was no longer living alone.
22. In March 2023 the Council offered Ms X new temporary accommodation.
23. In August 2023 Ms X submitted a change in circumstances form for medical reasons due to anxiety. The form listed her child as another person living at the address.
24. In December 2023 the Council referred her case for a medical assessment, it again asked for a copy of Ms X’s child’s birth certificate.
25. In January 2024 the Council sent Ms X the outcome from the medical assessment. It concluded there was no medical reason for her to move or for her priority banding to change.
26. In April 2024 the Council processed her child’s birth certificate and added her child to her housing application. It did not inform Ms X it had not done this up until this point.
27. Later in 2024 Ms X complained to the Council about her unsuitable accommodation and that she was not eligible to bid for two-bedroom properties. This triggered an investigation into the matter.
28. In its complaint response it acknowledged it delayed processing her child’s birth certificate and apologised to Ms X. It informed Ms X it added the child’s birth certificate in April 2024.The Council backdated her priority on the housing register to 2022 from when Ms X was eligible to bid for two-bedroom properties. It confirmed her priority band 3 would remain the same. The Council confirmed in its stage 2 complaint response she had not missed out on any suitable accommodation between May 2022 and April 2024 and offered her a symbolic payment of £500 for the avoidable distress and frustration the delay had caused.
29. Ms X remained unhappy about the Council’s response and complained to us.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

30. Following our enquiries the Council rechecked for missed opportunities and found Ms X had missed out on 17 suitable two-bedroom properties she could have bid for between May 2022 and April 2024.

My findings

31. Ms X sent the Council her child’s birth certificate in May 2022 but it did not process this and add it to her housing application until April 2024. That delay was fault and meant Ms X lost the opportunity to bid on suitable two bedroom properties during this period. The Council has acknowledged this fault and apologised to Ms X. It also backdated her priority on the housing register to May 2022. I have however made a further recommendation to acknowledge the distress and missed opportunities Ms X experienced.

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Actions

32. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Apologise to Ms X and pay her £2300 to recognise the distress, frustration, and uncertainty caused by the Council’s delay in processing her child’s birth certificate and the missed opportunity to bid on suitable two bedroom properties between 2022 and 2024. 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 in making the apology I have recommended.
2. Add Ms X to the Council’s direct offer list to ensure the Council offers her the next available suitable two-bedroom accommodation as soon as possible.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

34. I have found fault causing injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman