Summary: The Council was at fault for its delay in processing Miss X’s housing application and for poor, inconsistent communication. The Council has already provided a remedy for part of the injustice to Miss X by backdating its banding decision. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her a symbolic financial remedy to further acknowledge the frustration caused to her by the Council’s faults.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council delayed processing her housing application and change of circumstances request and its communication with her was poor. She said her family is overcrowded in their current accommodation and the delay meant she has been unable to bid to move to a different property. Miss X said the overcrowding is impacting her family’s well-being.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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) Miss X first submitted a housing application in 2021 and a change of circumstances form in 2023. She was not aware these were not processed until her complaint to the Council and so had good reason for not complaining to us sooner.
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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council 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 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))
8. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:
• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))
9. Councils must notify applicants in writing of the following decisions and give reasons:
• that the applicant is not eligible for an allocation;
• that the applicant is not a qualifying person;
• a decision not to award the applicant reasonable preference because of their unacceptable behaviour.
10. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
11. Housing applicants can ask the council to review a wide range of decisions about their applications, including decisions about their housing priority.
12. The Ombudsman normally will not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.

The Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme

13. The Council assesses the application and places the applicant into one of four priority bands. Band 1 is the highest priority and band 4 is the lowest priority. The Council’s banding system recognises overcrowding. Those who are statutorily overcrowded as defined by part 10 of the Housing Act 1985 are placed in band 1, those who are overcrowded but not statutorily so are placed in band 3.
14. Within each Band applications are prioritised by reference to a priority star system and then by date of registration on the scheme. A priority star is awarded for reasons such as people who need to move on severe medical or severe welfare grounds, to working households, and for applicants who are undertaking voluntary work. Volunteers must have been volunteering for a continuous period of at least six months up to the point of application.
15. The scheme sets out that applicants are required to inform the Council of any changes in circumstances which will affect their housing application. Where there is any change, a change of circumstances form must be completed, and supporting documents must be provided.
16. The scheme sets out a right of review and that the review will be carried out and the decisions and reasons for it will be given to the applicant in writing in 28 days of the request being received.
17. If an applicant refuses three offers of accommodation within 12 months they will be downgraded to a reduced priority band.

What happened

18. Miss X lives in a two-bedroom Council owned property with her family. She says the property is unsuitable for her family’s needs due to overcrowding.
19. Miss X made a housing application to the Council in late 2021. In November 2023 she submitted a change of circumstances form to add a new household member.
20. In September 2024 Miss X submitted the required documents to add her children to her housing application.
21. In January 2025 Miss X complained to the Council using their corporate complaints procedure. She complained her housing application had not been verified and progressed.
22. In its response in February 2025 the Council advised Miss X her original housing application was not submitted correctly and so had not been received, meaning her change of circumstances form had not been considered. It said she was currently in band 4. She was advised to resubmit her housing application.
23. The Council apologised for its delay in updating her on the processing of her housing application and said it was taking steps to address this and to improve its processes. It said it did not uphold the complaint.
24. In February 2025 Miss X resubmitted her housing application. This referral was closed by the Council as it considered it a duplicate referral.
25. In April 2025 Miss X requested a review of her complaint as she had submitted a new housing application but had not received a response from the Council.
26. In May 2025 Miss X contacted a different department in the Council to ask for support with housing. The Council provided her with housing advice.
27. The Council processed Miss X’s change of circumstances application in May 2025 and awarded her band 3 due to overcrowding.
28. Miss X then submitted a new change of circumstances form together with evidence of her employment and was awarded a work star.
29. The Council responded to Miss X in May 2025 and partially upheld her complaint. It acknowledged it had delayed processing her application. The Council apologised and made a payment of £150 to recognise her time and trouble in having to raise a complaint to get this resolved.
30. The Council advised Miss X the delay in processing her housing application and change of circumstances forms had not caused a missed opportunity to successfully bid on a property due to the shortage of properties of the size she required.
31. After our enquiries to the Council in December 2025 the Council backdated Miss X’s move to band 3 to November 2023, when she first submitted the change of circumstances form.
32. The Council’s records show since 2024 it has allocated seven three or four bedroom properties to those in band 3 with one priority star. The records show it allocated all of these to people who had been on the housing register much longer than Miss X and so had higher priority.

Findings

33. There are no statutory guidelines as to how long a council should take to process a housing application or change of circumstances. However, we would usually expect this to be completed within around eight weeks.
34. Miss X completed a housing application in 2021. She did not submit it properly. She completed a second application in February 2025. She also made a change of circumstance request in November 2023. Due to errors and delay within the Council’s systems the Council failed to notify Miss X it had not processed her application and change of circumstances form. It did not process the second application until May 2025 when she was awarded band 3. This delay is fault which caused significant frustration to Miss X.
35. The Council has provided a remedy for some of the injustice caused to Miss X by backdating her band 3 status to November 2023, when she first applied for a change of circumstances.
36. Miss X now is in band 3 with one priority star. This is in line with the Council’s housing allocations scheme, reflecting her home is overcrowded but not statutorily overcrowded.
37. The Council’s communication with Miss X was below expected standards and its advice was inconsistent. This included the Council asking Miss X to make another housing application and then closing this referral as a duplicate. The Council also apologised for delay in the stage one complaint response but did not uphold the complaint. This is fault and caused frustration to Miss X as she had to spend additional time trying to resolve the issues.
38. Miss X requested a review of her complaint as the actions recommended in response to her complaint were not completed by the Council. The Council apologised and sent Miss X a financial remedy of £150 to recognise her time and trouble in pursuing her complaint. I consider an additional payment is necessary to acknowledge the full extent of the frustration caused to Miss X by the Council’s faults.
39. In its first complaint response the Council said it was taking steps to improve its processes through service improvements.
40. Since Miss X complained to us the Council has agreed to further service improvements following Ombudsman recommendations on other separate complaints. I therefore do not consider it necessary to make further service improvement recommendations.

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Agreed Actions

41. Within one month of this decision the Council has agreed to:
1. Write to Miss X and apologise for the frustration caused to her by the Council’s delay in processing her housing application and change of circumstance form. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.
2. Pay Miss X a further symbolic amount of £100 to recognise the frustration caused by the time taken to process her housing application.
3. Write to Miss X to confirm her current banding, explain the banding decision and how to request a review of that decision.
42. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

43. I find fault causing injustice and the Council has agreed to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman