Summary: Miss X complains that the Council delayed in lifting the suspension on her housing register application. The Council is at fault as it delayed in lifting the suspension on her housing register application and its requests for documentation lacked clarity. The delay caused distress to Miss X which the Council has agreed to remedy by apologising and making a symbolic payment to her.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council significantly delayed in lifting the suspension of her housing register application. Miss X considers that as a result she was prevented from bidding on properties for over a year, may have missed an offer of a property and lived with the risk of domestic abuse for longer than necessary.

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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. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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 have:

• Considered the complaint and the information provided;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• Invited Miss X and the Council to comment on the draft decision. I considered the comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

6. 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))
7. 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))

Council’s housing allocation scheme

8. The Council’s housing allocations scheme priorities housing applicants by placing them into priority bands. Band 1 is the highest priority band and band band 4 is the lowest. Under its previous allocations scheme, the Council could award priority stars in certain circumstances to applicants to increase their position within the band.

What happened

9. The following is a summary of the facts relevant to my consideration of the complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
10. In 2021, Miss X applied for the Council’s housing register. She wanted to move from her property as she was at risk of domestic abuse. Miss X has four children. However, Miss X’s housing application shows she included three, not four, children on the application. The Council considered Miss X was eligible for the housing register and awarded band 2 priority with a severe welfare priority star. It also considered she was eligible for a three-bedroom property at that time.
11. The Council’s records show Miss X contacted the Council in May 2022 to say her application was not showing the correct size of property she was eligible for. This is because her application did not include all her children and she required a four bedroom property. The Council suspended Miss X’s application as it considered there was a change in circumstances. The Council sent a letter to Miss X requesting documents to enable it to process her change of circumstances application. The letter asked Miss X to provide identity documents for the household. It also asked her to submit two documents from a list of documents providing proof of address. These documents included a tenancy agreement, recent utility bills or council tax bill.
12. In September 2022, Miss X provided some of the documents. She included letters showing her address. These letters were not on the list of documents requested by the Council. One letter was dated 2017. The Council processed these documents in early March 2023. It then requested Miss X provide a copy of her tenancy agreement as she had not provided sufficient documentation. Miss X provided a copy of her tenancy agreement on 22 March 2023.
13. The Council’s records note that Miss X told the Council in March 2023 that her ex-partner was being threatening. There is no evidence to show the Council took any action.
14. In June 2023, Miss X complained to the Council that it had not lifted the suspension on her application so she could not bid on properties. She also complained that the Council did not ask for her tenancy agreement until March 2023. The Council considered Miss X’s complaint at stage 1 of its two stage complaints procedure. The Council said its timescale for verifying and processing change in circumstances forms was 28 days. It had been unable to process Miss X’s application within these timescales due to a backlog. The Council said it had lifted the suspension on Miss X’s application and she had been awarded band 2 priority. The Council apologised for the delay.
15. Miss X escalated her complaint to stage 2 of the Council’s complaints procedure in September 2023. This is because the Council had not lifted the suspension on her housing application so she still could not bid on properties. The Council upheld Miss X’s complaint. It said that the officer who responded to Miss X’s stage 1 response was incorrectly informed that the suspension had been lifted. The Council removed the suspension in late September 2023 and Miss X was able to bid again.
16. In response to my enquiries, the Council said:

• The identity documents required to process Miss X’s change of circumstances were only in relation to the child to be added to the application and proof of residence. The Council also required the tenancy agreement to verify the application. It acknowledged the letter to Miss X requesting these documents did not make this clear. It will provide guidance to officers to ensure requests for information are clear.
• It acknowledged it should have dealt with the documents sent by Miss X on 23 September 2022 within 28 days. It did not deal with the documents until 9 March 2023 so only requested the tenancy agreement at that time. It then delayed in dealing with the tenancy agreement sent by Miss X on 22 March 2023. So it did not lift the suspension of Miss X’s application until 28 September 2023. The Council considers the delay amounts to 300 days in total. It therefore considers the delay runs from 2 December 2022 to 28 September 2023.
• Miss X is eligible for a four-bedroom property. The Council let four, four-bedroom properties between 2 December 2022 and 28 September 2023. These properties were let to applicants with higher priority that Miss X.
• The Council has taken action to reduce the backlog in dealing with changes of circumstances applications. It is now dealing with such applications within 28 days.

Analysis

17. The Council has acknowledged the significant delay in dealing with Miss X’s change of circumstances application and lifting the suspension of her application. The delay is fault. The Council is also at fault for wrongly telling Miss X that the suspension of her application has been lifted in response to her complaint. I do not consider the fault caused Miss X to miss an offer of a property. The Council has provided evidence to show that the four-bedroom properties let between December 2022 and 28 September 2023 were offered to applicants with higher priority than Miss X. But the prolonged delay caused significant distress to Miss X which the Council should remedy.
18. The Council has addressed the delays in dealing with change of circumstances applications. It is therefore not necessary to make recommendations for service improvements in this area.
19. The Council has acknowledged that its requests for documents from Miss X lacked clarity. There is also no evidence to show the Council specifically informed Miss X that it required her tenancy agreement before March 2023. But I do not consider the Council’s lack of clarity added to the delay. This is because the documents Miss X provided as proof of residency were not recent and were not on the list of documents required by the Council as proof. So, the Council would have always had to seek further documents from Miss X.
20. Miss X raised concerns with the Council in March 2023 about domestic abuse. There is no evidence to show the Council considered inviting a homelessness application, advised Miss X on how she could make a homelessness application or provided any other advice. I consider this to be fault. I cannot know, even on balance, if Miss X would have made a homelessness application or the outcome of any such application. But the Council should now advise Miss X on how she can make a homelessness application if she is still at risk of domestic abuse. The Council should also ensure officers signpost applicants to its homelessness services in the event they raise concerns about domestic abuse.

Agreed action

21. That the Council will:
1. Send a written apology to Miss X for the distress caused to her by the significant delay in dealing with her change of circumstances application and lack of clarity in its requests for documents. 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 I have recommended in my findings.
2. Make a symbolic payment of £400 to Miss X to acknowledge the distress to her.
3. Provide advice to Miss X on how she can make a homelessness application.
4. By training or other means, remind officers to advise housing register applicants on how they can make a homelessness application if they consider they are at risk of domestic abuse.
5. Provide guidance to officers on ensuring requests for documents to process changes of circumstance applications clearly set out the documents required.
22. The Council should take the action at a) to c) within one month and the action at d) and e) within two months of the final decision.
23. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

24. Fault causing injustice to Miss X.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman