•Provides further guidance to its staff about the information to provide in closure letters. It must ensure the letters specify exactly what information the applicant needs to provide. Where an applicant has provided financial records but more evidence is needed, it should not just list the financial documents applicants need to provide; it should explain why the evidence they have already provided does not meet the Council’s requirements.•Reviews its procedures to ensure it assesses applications which have been made in accordance with the allocation scheme. Unless the Council changes its allocation scheme, it should not consider applications to be incomplete when the applicant has provided the documents listed in paragraph 2.2.3 of the Council’s housing allocation scheme.•Resolves the technical issue which results in blank attachments being sent to housing applicants.

The Council has agreed to amend its procedures to ensure officers are aware that documents other than utility or council tax bills can be used as proof of address, and of the circumstances when less than three months of bank statements should be accepted.

The Council will identify and implement learning from this complaint to improve the time taken by the Council to address significant repairs. This will help to ensure similar failings do not happen in future and significant repairs are addressed by the Council in a timely manner.The Council will remind relevant staff of the Council’s duty to carry out an inspection when concerns about a property are raised by a service user. This will help to ensure inspections are not missed and property concerns do not go under the radar and be left unaddressed by the Council.The Council will remind relevant staff of the Council’s duty to keep suitability under review, and recognise the types of communications from service users which should trigger the Council to carry out a review of suitability. This will help to ensure suitability reviews are carried out when necessary.

The Council has agreed to review the documents required for new applicants and existing tenants, ensuring that applicants are not asked to provide unnecessary evidence.The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it assesses applications which have been made in accordance with the allocation scheme. Unless the Council changes its allocation scheme, it will not consider applications to be incomplete when the applicant has provided the documents listed in paragraph 2.2.3 of its housing allocation scheme.The Council has agreed to consider amending its procedures to give applicants additional time to submit missing documents before their application is closed, to prevent unnecessary delays. If the Council continues to close applications without giving applicants an opportunity to submit any missing documents, it will amend the application form to include a clear warning about the consequences of not submitting all required evidence.

The Council will remind relevant staff that it must make enquiries when someone contacts it seeking accommodation and gives ‘reason to believe’ they ‘may be’ homeless or threatened with homelessness. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular department of the Council.

The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers to include their reasoning in housing priority decision letters.The Council has agreed to provide additional training and/or guidance to ensure its complaints officers can identify whether there are any outstanding reviewable decisions before responding to complaints about reviews. Alternatively, it should ensure its complaints officers check with the relevant team.

The Council has agreed to provide evidence to show that it no longer has a significant backlog in processing housing applications and carrying out reviews, and that it is assessing 95% of housing applications within eight weeks.

Provide training and/or guidance to its staff to ensure they are following the requirements of the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Code of Guidance when dealing with homelessness applications. It should include the criteria for accepting subsequent homelessness applications, the requirement to issue decision letters, the timescales for the relief and prevention duties and the need to consider whether it is reasonable for the applicant to continue to occupy their accommodation.•Implement a monitoring system to ensure that cases are being handled within reasonable timeframes and that key deadlines (such as the decision on whether the relief duty applies) are met.

The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it checks which documents a housing applicant has already provided and does not base its decision on only the documents submitted with the latest application. It will also remind all officers that a thorough check of all documents previously provided should be undertaken.The Council has agreed to consider amending its procedures to give housing applicants additional time to submit missing documents before their application is closed, to prevent unnecessary delays. If it decides not to amend its procedures, it will amend the application form to include a clear warning about the consequences of not submitting all required evidence.

The Council has agreed to review the documents required for new housing applicants, joint tenants, existing tenants and household members, ensuring that applicants are not asked to provide unnecessary evidence. It will also ensure that staff training is provided so that officers are aware of the different evidence requirements for each applicant type.The Council has agreed to provide information to housing applicants on its website and its application form about the evidence it will accept as proof of address if they do not have a council tax bill or utility bill in their name.The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it assesses applications which have been made in accordance with the allocation scheme. Unless the Council changes its allocation scheme, it should not consider applications to be incomplete when a transfer applicant has not provided evidence of their eligibility or when a member of the household has not provided documents.The Council has agreed to consider amending its procedures to give applicants additional time to submit missing documents before closing their applications, to prevent unnecessary delays. If the Council continues to close applications without giving applicants an opportunity to submit any missing documents, it will amend the application form to include a clear warning about the consequences of not submitting all required evidence.