Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council closing her housing applications. We find that the Council did not clearly explain which documents she needed to provide. It also wrongly closed her second housing application as incomplete. These failings caused Mrs B avoidable frustration and inconvenience and delayed her ability to join the housing register. The Council has since assessed Mrs B’s application and backdated her registration date. The Council has also agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to Mrs B.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained that the Council closed her housing applications as incomplete, despite providing all the required information. She says this has delayed her ability to join the housing register and she remains living in overcrowded accommodation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mrs B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mrs B and the Council have had the 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

6. 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))
7. 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))
8. 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))
9. 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). Band A includes applicants who are living in overcrowded accommodation which is lacking three bedrooms.
2. The applicant’s registration date is the date they qualified to join the register. Their award date is the date the priority band was awarded

Key events

12. Mrs B lives in her parents’ three-bedroom house. She would like to move out of the house because it is overcrowded. She lives there with her husband, baby and eight other family members. 
13. In September 2024, Mrs B applied to join the Council’s housing register.
14. The application form outlined the required supporting documents, such as proof of identity, address, and financial records. Mrs B submitted several documents to support her application.
15. In December 2024, the Council wrote to Mrs B to tell her that it had closed her application because it was incomplete. The letter stated that she needed to provide a council tax or utility bill as proof of her address, as well as evidence of the benefits she received. It advised her to reapply once she had provided the required documents.
16. Mrs B submitted another application with additional documents in February 2025.
17. In April 2025, the Council again decided that Mrs B’s application was incomplete. Its letter stated that she needed to provide financial records, a utility or council tax bill, and evidence of her eligibility to join the register.
18. Mrs B considered she had already provided all the required documents. As the Council’s letter stated that she had no right to request a review of the Council’s decision, she brought her complaint to our office.

Analysis

19. The Council accepts that, before June 2025, it did not adequately warn applicants that their housing application would be closed if they did not provide all the required documents. It also acknowledges that it did not provide clear information about the financial records it required, or what documents it would accept as proof of address when applicants were unable to supply a utility or council tax bill. For some time, the Council was not providing applicants with clear information about why their applications were considered incomplete, leaving them uncertain about what further evidence they needed to provide.
20. In June 2025, the Council changed its procedures. It no longer closes applications as incomplete when supporting documents are missing. Instead, it writes to applicants specifying which documents are outstanding and asks for them to be provided within ten days.
21. In Mrs B’s case, the Council closed her first application because she had not provided a council tax or utility bill as proof of her address, and she had not provided evidence of the benefits she received. Mrs B had provided a copy of a council tax bill for her address, but it was in her father’s name. As she was living at her parents’ house, the Council should have accepted the bank statements she provided as proof of her address. It did not do so; this was fault.
22. The bank statements Mrs B provided showed the benefits she received. The Council wanted to see separate evidence of her benefit entitlement but the information the Council was providing to applicants did not make this clear. If there had been no fault by the Council here, I consider Mrs B would have submitted separate evidence of her benefit entitlement and her application would have been accepted.
23. When Mrs B reapplied in February 2025, she had started working and she provided evidence of her income. The Council decided her application was incomplete because it did not consider she had provided proof of her address, it considered the bank statements she provided did not cover the required period (the last three months) and she had not provided evidence of her husband’s income.
24. The Council should have accepted the financial records Mrs B provided; the bank statements covered the required period, and she had provided evidence that her husband did not have an income. The Council also again failed to accept Mrs B’s bank statements as proof of her address. Mrs B’s application had been properly made and so the Council should have assessed whether she qualified to join the register. It did not do so; this was fault.
25. After we notified the Council about Mrs B’s complaint, it reassessed her case. It decided that she qualified to join the register and it awarded Band A for overcrowding. The Council backdated her registration date to eight weeks after she applied. It did not backdate her award date because the Band A award related to a recent change in her circumstances. I welcome the actions the Council has taken to resolve Mrs B’s complaint. However, I do not consider they fully remedy her injustice and have therefore made the below recommendations.

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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. 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 £150 to Mrs B. This is a symbolic payment to acknowledge the avoidable frustration and inconvenience caused by the Council’s actions.
27. The Council changed its procedures in June 2025. I therefore do not consider any service improvement recommendations are necessary.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

29. I have completed my investigation and uphold Mrs B’s complaint. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman