Summary: Mr B complained about the Council closing his housing applications. We find that the Council failed to provide clear information about the documents he needed to submit to support his applications and then closed them as incomplete without specifying which documents he had not provided. It also wrongly closed his third application as incomplete when he had provided all the necessary documents. This caused Mr B avoidable frustration and inconvenience and led to a delay in Mr B joining the housing register. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Mr B and backdate his application 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.

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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.”

Key events

11. Mr B lives in a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). An HMO is a property rented to at least three people from more than one household who share facilities like a bathroom, kitchen, or toilet. 
12. Mr B applied to join the Council’s housing register in September 2024.
13. The application form outlined the required supporting documents, such as proof of identity, address, and financial records. Mr B submitted documentation to support his application.
14. In October 2024, 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.
15. Mr B submitted a second application with additional documents in November 2024. However, in January 2025, the Council again rejected it as incomplete, without specifying which documents were missing.
16. Mr B contacted the Council and discovered that it had rejected his application because he had provided a photocopy of his passport, rather than a screenshot.
17. Mr B then submitted a third application, which was considered in March 2025. The Council again decided that his application was incomplete. The letter stated that Mr B had no right to request a review and referred him to our office.
18. Mr B made a further application to the Council in June 2025. His application was assessed in August 2025 and he was awarded Band C.

Analysis

19. The Council accepts that, before June 2025, it was not adequately warning applicants that their application would be closed if they did not provide all the required documents. It also accepts that it was not providing clear information to applicants about the financial documents it required, or which documents it would accept as proof of address when the applicant was unable to provide a utility bill or council tax bill. For some time, the Council was not providing applicants with clear information about the reason it had decided their application was incomplete, leaving them uncertain about what further evidence they needed to provide.
20. In June 2025, the Council 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.
21. In this case, the Council decision letters on Mr B’s first two applications did not clearly specify why it considered his applications were incomplete. The Council closed his third application because he had not provided a council tax or utility bill as proof of address, which he could not provide because he lived in an HMO. The Council should have accepted the other documents he provided as proof of his address.
22. The Council accepts there was fault in its handling of Mr B’s housing application. To remedy Mr B’s injustice, the Council has offered to take the following actions:
• Apologise to Mr B for the failures in this case, explain why these occurred and the steps it has since taken to resolve them.
• Backdate Mr B’s registration date on the housing register to 20 January 2025 in recognition of the fault at the time of the assessment.
• Offer Mr B £250 to recognise the distress and inconvenience he experienced as a result of the failings identified.
23. I consider the Council’s offer of an apology and payment is a suitable remedy for the frustration and inconvenience Mr B experienced.
24. However, I consider the Council should backdate Mr B’s registration and award date to 9 November 2024, rather than 20 January 2025. If the Council had clearly informed Mr B of the documents he needed to provide, and the consequences of not providing the required documents, I consider he is more likely to have provided all the required evidence when he applied in September 2024. If his application had been assessed within eight weeks, he is likely to have qualified to join the register by 9 November 2024. I therefore consider the Council should backdate his award to that date.

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Action

25. The Council will 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 £250 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 and award date to 9 November 2024.
26. The Council changed its procedures in June 2025. I therefore do not consider any service improvement recommendations are necessary.
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 by the Council 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