Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homeless application. She also complained the Council wrongly asked her to submit a new housing register application and it did not help her get her bidding details. We find the Council was at fault for the way it handled Ms X’s homeless application. It was also at fault for failing to help Ms X get her bidding details and for its communication with her on why she had to submit a new housing register application. These faults caused her frustration. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to apologise to Ms X and implement a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her homeless application. She says the Council refused to take her application seriously and it failed to follow through with agreed actions. She also complained the Council asked her to submit a new housing register application even though she was already on the register, and it failed to get an officer to help her get her bidding details.
2. Ms X says the Council’s actions have caused her distress and upset.

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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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What I have and have not investigated

5. My investigation covers matters from March to July 2024. If Ms X has concerns about how the Council has handled matters after that, she would need to raise a new complaint to the Council.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Homelessness

8. Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities set out councils’ powers and duties to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness.
9. Someone is homeless if they have no accommodation or if they have accommodation, but it is not reasonable for them and anyone who lives with them to continue to live there. (Housing Act 1996, Section 175)
10. If councils are satisfied applicants are threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance, they must help the applicants to secure that accommodation does not stop being available for their occupation. This is called the prevention duty. In deciding what steps they are to take, councils must have regard to their assessments of the applicants’ cases. (Housing Act 1996, section 195)

What happened

11. Ms X approached the Council for housing assistance in March 2024. She says she spoke to an officer to make a homeless application as her property is overcrowded. She says the officer said she would contact the bidding team (as she had lost her log in details) and contact the medical team to see what medical evidence they held for her. The Council has no records of Ms X’s contact.
12. Ms X complained to the Council at the end of April about its failure to provide her with proper housing assistance and its failure to follow through with its agreed actions from March. She said she was not sleeping in her home as there was nowhere for her to sleep. This was contributing to her poor health. She also said she could not bid on the housing register as she had no login details.
13. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint at stage one in early May. It said she lived in a property that was lacking one bedroom, but she was not homeless or at risk of homelessness. It referred her to its web page on homelessness. It also said she had an active housing register application, and it had sent her a link to provide up-to-date medical information in April 2022, but she had not provided a response.
14. Ms X approached another council (Council Z) for housing assistance. Council Z sent a letter to the Council in mid-May. It said Ms X was eligible for assistance and at risk of homelessness. However, she did not have a local connection and so it could not assist.
15. The Council emailed Ms X in late May after it received the referral from Council Z and asked her for documentation, including her tenancy agreement and bank statements.
16. Ms X referred her complaint to stage two of the complaints procedure. She said she still could not log onto her account to bid. She said it had a duty to investigate her housing situation and her circumstances. She also said she could not remember whether she had received a link to provided new medical information.
17. The Council called Ms X in early June to discuss her housing situation. Ms X said it was not convenient. It called back the following week. Ms X explained she was living in a one-bedroom flat with her teenage son. The flat was no longer suitable for her. She said she had been sleeping in her neighbour’s flat. She also said she had not been able to bid on properties since December 2023 because she could not access her account. The Council said it would send an email to the housing register team to determine her position on the housing register.
18. The Council issued its final response to Ms X’s complaint in early July. It said it had arranged for a lettings officer to contact her to reset her password. It said her circumstances did not sound like she met the criteria for homelessness, but it would ask an officer to contact her. It also provided her with the link to send new medical information.
19. The Council emailed Ms X a few days later. It said she had contacted it to register her interest in applying to join the housing register or report a change in circumstances. It asked her to complete a new housing register online form. Ms X replied and asked why she had to complete another form when she had been on the housing register since 2012. She said the Council had her details and there was nothing on the online form that allowed her to submit a change in circumstances. The Council responded and explained it had a new allocations policy which was effective from October 2021 and all residents who wished to apply or report a change of circumstances had to adhere to the new policy.
20. Ms X completed the online form. The Council wrote to her and said it needed more documentation from her including proof of her identity, proof of address and income and her son’s birth certificate.
21. The Council sent a letter to Ms X in mid-July and stated she was eligible for assistance and threatened with homelessness. It said it would take reasonable steps to help prevent her homelessness. It said if she disagreed with its decision she could ask for a review within 21 days.

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Analysis

22. Ms X says the Council failed to take any action to help with her housing after she contacted it in March 2024. The Council has no records of Ms X’s contact in March 2024. Ms X has provided me with her telephone records which shows she called Council. However, as there are no recordings of these calls, I do not know what discussed. Therefore, I cannot, even on the balance of probabilities, reach a view on this part of Ms X’s complaint.
23. The Council said in response to Ms X’s complaint she was not homeless or a risk of homelessness. This was inappropriate. The Council had not assessed Ms X’s circumstances or had an interview with her so she could explain her housing situation. It was therefore wrong to pre-judge the outcome without an assessment. The circumstances Ms X had described could have potentially given rise to a homelessness duty as councils must consider whether it is reasonable for an applicant to continue to occupy their current accommodation. The Council’s fault caused Ms X frustration and left her feeling with the Council did not want to help her. The Council only took action after it received the referral from Council Z.
24. The Council also said in its final response to Ms X’s complaint her circumstances did not sound like she met the criteria for homelessness. Again, this was inappropriate as it had not yet made a decision about Ms X homelessness after its contact with her in June. This caused Ms X further frustration. It was also contrary to the decision it reached just over a week later that Ms X was threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance.
25. During my investigation, the Council provided further details about why Ms X had to reapply to join its housing register. It said it introduced a new allocations scheme in October 2021. It was only able to migrate limited detail to the new system because it had lost its data following a cyber-attack in 2020. It did not have Ms X’s full details (including medical information and household member details) when migrating to the new system. Ms X had reported a change in circumstances due to a medical condition in 2022. It could not process the changes until Ms X had re-registered onto the new system.
26. The Council’s explanation of why Ms X had to re-register is not unreasonable. However, it was at fault for its communication with her on this matter. When it emailed her, it said she contacted it to register her interest in applying to join the housing register or report a change in circumstances. It also said it had a new allocations policy from 2021. Ms X was understandably confused as she had not reported a recent change in circumstances, and she had been able to continue bidding from 2021Therefore, she did not understand why she had to resend her identification and medical documents as she thought this was information it already had. The Council did not provide Ms X with the explanation it has now provided to me. This fault caused her some frustration.
27. Ms X told the Council repeatedly she could not access her account to bid for housing. The Council said in its final response it would ask a lettings officer to contact her. There is no evidence a lettings officer contacted Ms X. This is fault, which caused Ms X some frustration. Ms X explained to me she now has access to her account after reapplying to join the housing register. I have looked at Ms X’s bidding history and her queue position. While the Council’s actions caused her frustration, she did not miss out a chance on securing an alternative property. The Council has explained to Ms X because of the housing stock she could be waiting for 19 years before she is successful.

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Agreed action

28. By 2 June 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Ms X for injustice caused by the identified fault.
• Using this case as an example, issue written reminders to staff to relevant staff to ensure they must not pre-judge the outcome of a homeless application without first doing a proper assessment of the applicant’s circumstances.

29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final Decision

30. I have found fault by the Council, which caused Ms X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman