Councils’ housing allocations schemes is the subject of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s third practical guide for housing officers to help improve services for Disabled people.

The latest guide highlights issues Disabled people face when applying to councils’ housing schemes, and the changes local councils can make to improve those services.

Issues covered in the Guide include councils’ delays when processing, assessing and reviewing medical assessments and housing applications by Disabled people.

The Guide also reminds councils not to rely solely on advice from external medical advisors, many of whom never see the Disabled person or their living arrangements.

The Ombudsman also recommends councils have sufficient discretion within the allocations scheme to be able to take into account people’s individual circumstances.

It also urges councils to think holistically about the service they offer and to include other departments – such as adults and children’s services – to work together to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“All too often we see councils not treating people – including Disabled people – as individuals with their own set of personal circumstances when processing applications to housing allocations schemes.

“We have seen cases where local authorities have relied too heavily on independent medical reports to make a decision about a person’s priority, without taking a broader look at that person’s circumstances.

“And we have also seen officers stick too rigidly to flawed beliefs about their councils’ schemes, and assessing people’s applications against the wrong criteria.

“Our new Guide contains a number of useful recommendations that councils can use to take stock of the services they offer. It distils the key learning points into just a few pages and I would urge officers and decision makers who have responsibility for housing applications to have a read and see if their services could be improved.”

The guide, and other resources in the Ombudsman’s campaign to improve housing support for Disabled people, can be downloaded from the Ombudsman’s website.

Article date: 10 July 2025