Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council closing her housing application. We find that the Council failed to provide clear information about the documents she needed to submit to support her application, or the evidence it would accept as proof of her address. It then closed Mrs X’s application as incomplete without specifying what information she had not provided. This caused Mrs X avoidable frustration and inconvenience and delayed her ability to join the housing register. The Council has agreed to assess Mrs X’s application and, if she qualifies to join the register, it will backdate her award and registration date. The Council has also agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council closed her housing application as incomplete because she did not provide a council tax or utility bill as proof of her address, which she is unable to provide because she lives with her parents.
2. Mrs X says the Council’s actions have caused her frustration and inconvenience, and she has had to remain living in overcrowded accommodation because her housing application has not been accepted.

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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 Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mrs X 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. Mrs X lives in a five-bedroom house with her family. She would like to move out of the house because it is overcrowded. In total, there are seven adults and nine children living there. 
12. Mrs X applied to join the Council’s housing register in January 2025. The application form sets out the required supporting documents, such as proof of identity, address, and financial records. It also asks applicants to list all household members living at the same address, even if they are not moving with the applicant. Mrs X submitted several documents to support her application. She did not include details of the household members who would not be moving with her.
13. In March 2025, the Council wrote to Mrs X 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 were missing or that she had not provided details of other household members. The letter stated that Mrs X had no right to request a review of the decision to close her application and it referred her to our office.
14. After we contacted the Council, it considered Mrs X’s case again. The Council advised Mrs X to submit a new application and to include the details of each person living at her address. After she did so, the Council carried out a home visit to confirm the number of people living in the house. It has not yet concluded its assessment and decided if Mrs X qualifies to join the housing register.

Analysis

15. 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.
16. 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.
17. In this case, the Council’s decision letter did not clearly specify why it considered Mrs X’s application was incomplete. This was fault. As a result, Mrs X did not know what other documents she needed to provide, or that she needed to provide the details of other household members. The Council’s records show it also considered her application was incomplete because she had failed to provide a council tax or utility bill as proof of her address. Mrs X was unable to provide one because she was living with her parents. The Council should have allowed Mrs X to provide alternative evidence as proof of her address.
18. If the Council had clearly informed Mrs X of the documents she needed to provide, and the consequences of not providing the required documents, I consider she is more likely to have provided all the required evidence when she applied in January 2025. If her application had been assessed within eight weeks, she is likely to have received a decision in March 2025. Based on the information I have seen, I consider Mrs X would likely have qualified to join the housing register.
19. The Council’s failings in this case have caused Mrs X frustration and inconvenience and she has missed the opportunity to bid for housing.

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Action

20. The Council has agreed to take the following actions within four weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mrs X 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 £100 to Mrs X. This is a symbolic payment to acknowledge the avoidable frustration and inconvenience caused by the Council’s actions.
• Assess Mrs X’s application and if she qualifies to join the register, it will backdate her registration and award date to eight weeks after she applied in January 2025.
21. The Council changed its procedures in June 2025. I therefore do not consider any service improvement recommendations are necessary.
22. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

23. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs X’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Mrs X. 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