What to do if you are not happy with a decision
If you are not happy with a decision we have made, you have the right to ask for a review.
The decisions include:
• not to accept your housing application,
• the band or priority date that you have been awarded,
• the suitability of a property you have been nominated for.
The first thing to do is to contact your local Home-Option team (click here for contact details of your local Home-Options team) to discuss your application. There may be information that has not been taken into consideration or your circumstances may have changed since you first applied.
If you have spoken to your local team and are still not satisfied, there is a formal review process you can use.
Stage One
Within fifteen working days of being informed of the decision, contact your local Home-Option team (click here for contact details of your local Home-Options team) and ask that a senior officer reviews your application. If there are circumstances that you want to be taken into account, then you may wish to send a letter, a email or explain them over the phone.
The senior officer has a further fifteen working days to review your application. They then must write to you (by letter or email) within another five working days to let you the outcome of the review.
Stage Two
If you are still dissatisfied with the decision after a review by the senior officer, then you can ask for a stage two review. You should do this within 15 working days of the outcome of the stage one review.
Contact your local Home-Option team (click here for contact details of your local Home-Options team) and ask for a stage two review.
On receipt of a request for a stage two review, the Home-Options Co-ordinator (an officer employed by the Derbyshire and Staffordshire Moorlands Home-Options Partnership) will carry out a mandatory reconsideration of the decision to check if the policy has been applied correctly.
If, in the opinion of the Home-Options Co-ordinator, the policy has not been applied correctly, then the Home-Options Co-ordinator will make recommendations as to how matters can be rectified. If the policy has been correctly applied (or either the partner or the applicant do not agree with the recommendations), then the review will proceed to stage two.
A review panel made up of three officers from different Home-Options panel will look again at your housing application and re-consider the decision. They have 15 working days to do this from the date you request your appeal, and then five more working days to write to you to let you know the outcome.
Again, if there circumstances that you want to be taken into account, then you may wish to send a letter, a email or explain them over the phone. You may also request an oral hearing where you meet with members of the review panel to explain why you think the decision should be changed.
If you are still dissatisfied after the stage two review, you can make a formal complaint to the partner dealing with your housing application.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Ultimately, the applicant may appeal to The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, an independent body that investigates complaints about councils and other organisations providing a public service. The service is independent and free to use, but the Ombudsman will normally expect that applicants will use the full complaints procedure above before asking the Ombudsman to get involved.
More information about the Ombudsman can be found on the website: Link to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's website - https://www.lgo.org.uk/.
For more details of the review process, please see the Home-Options allocations policy for your area.