Tower Hamlets Council has agreed to review the way it allocates properties after an investigation revealed the council had a long backlog in processing applications to join its housing register.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman uncovered the backlog while investigating how the council handled an application to be put on the housing register from a local resident.
The borough rejected the woman’s application on the basis that she had not lived in the area long enough but agreed to reconsider on medical grounds after the applicant complained.
The local authority subsequently awarded her a priority band 2B but failed to tell her of her right to seek a review of the decision.
The Ombudsman criticised the council for taking six months to consider the application when the Ombudsman recommends it should have been decided in eight weeks.
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: ‘We fully accept the report and its findings, and we apologise to Miss X for the upset caused by delays in processing her Housing Register application and initial banding placement.’
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