Decision report 201204738

Summary

Mrs C complained that the housing association failed to follow their allocations policy by allocating a flat, which was adapted for wheelchair access, to a couple, rather than to her mother (Mrs A), who had a higher medical priority. She said that, despite her complaint, the association failed to put a hold on the tenancy and, when it was established that they had indeed made a mistake, they unreasonably delayed in arranging a mutual exchange with the couple who had moved into the property and who were willing to exchange with Mrs A.

The association identified, when carrying out their own investigation into the complaint, that they had failed to follow their allocations policy. We also found that they had missed a number of opportunities to rectify this mistake before the tenancy agreement was signed, and we upheld this complaint.

However, we did not uphold the complaint that they failed to put the tenancy on hold when Mrs C complained as, by this stage, the tenancy agreement was signed and could not be revoked. In addition, it was clear from our examination of the housing association's actions following this complaint that they had acted appropriately by trying to resolve this unfortunate situation in the best interests of all parties. We found no evidence that they unreasonably delayed in arranging a mutual exchange.