Complaint of bidding process TEMPERING

Dear Ms Brown

You sent an FOI to Lambeth Living, as below, asking questions about the
housing bidding process (number of complaints received). I am advised that
this matter is the responsibility of Lambeth Council's Housing
Regeneration and Environment department (HRE) rather than either of our
housing contractors Lambeth Living (LL) or United Residents Housing (URH).
Accordingly the council will reply to your FOI.

FOI Acknowledgement

Thank you for your FOI Request, as below. Please quote our ref 138764 in
any further correspondence about this request. We anticipate responding
within the statutory period of 20 working days following the date of
receipt, in this case by 17/01/11.

Please note that our preferred email address to receive Freedom of
Information requests is [1][email address] Thank you for your
interest in Lambeth Council.

Richard Gardner

Information Compliance Adviser

Legal Services

Governance and Democracy

Finance & Resources

London Borough of Lambeth

tel: 020 79267741

fax: 020 79262361

email: [email address]

information requests [email address]

website: www.lambeth.gov.uk

Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, London, SW2 1RW

Lambeth - Making a difference

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Dear Ms Brown,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request dated 15 December 2010
about Choice Based Lettings. You have asked:

1. How many people have complained about removal of bids placed?

2. How many people have complained about the addition of bids not
originally placed?

3. How long does it take the Housing Allocation Team to respond to
emails?

4. What was the outcome of advertisement 518609 (Hazelbourne Road)?

Once a bid has been placed on Choice Based Lettings it cannot be removed.
After bidding is closed it is not possible to add bids. Properties may be
withdrawn from letting, in which case the status of the bid will be given
as "withdrawn". The notes will also explain that the property has been
withdrawn. A property may be withdrawn either by the housing provider or
by the council for a number of reasons.

I am afraid that to answer your questions 1 and 2 about the number of
complaints received specifically about removal or addition of bids would
required manually reviewing all complaints received, and this would take
longer than 18 hours and the costs involved will be above the appropriate
£450 cost limit. We therefore cannot comply with your request under the
exemption contained in section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act
2000.

In answer to question 3, we aim to respond to all emails requiring a reply
within two working days. I am afraid that performance to this standard is
not monitored electronically as part of our email system, and obtaining
this information will require manual review of all emails and replies,
including where emails have been forwarded to other inboxes for reply, and
obtaining this information would take longer than 18 hours and the costs
involved will be above the appropriate £450 cost limit. We therefore
cannot comply with your request under the above mentioned exemption.

In answer to question 4, the property 518609, Hazelbourne Road, was
withdrawn by Lambeth Living. It was incorrectly advertised as a
2-bedroom property but is in fact a 3-bedroom property. It will be
re-advertised with the correct details. We apologise for any confusion
caused.

I realise that customers may be confused by their bid status being shown
as "withdrawn" on the website, when this means that the property has been
withdrawn, not that their bid has been withdrawn. We have therefore
changed the status message from "withdrawn" to "property withdrawn" to
make this clear.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which your Freedom of Information
request has been dealt with you can request an internal review by
emailing: [1][email address] (Please quote reference number 138764) or
by writing to:

Freedom of Information Officer

Legal Services

Lambeth Town Hall

Brixton Hill

Brixton

SW2 1RW

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the review you have a
further right to appeal to the Information Commissioner, who regulates the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner can be
contacted at the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Enquiry line: 01625 545745

Charlie Conyers

Business and Housing Options Development Manager

Housing, Regeneration and Environment

London Borough of Lambeth

phone: 020 7926 4402

e-mail: [email address]

website: [2]http://www.lambeth.gov.uk

3rd Floor

2-7 Town Hall Parade

Brixton Hill

London SW2 1RP

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Dear Ms Brown,

Thank you for your email of 18 January 2011. I can confirm that over the period of time since Choice Based Lettings was launched on 30 April 2008 we have received 208 Stage 1 complaints regarding housing allocations. 53 were dealt with at Stage 2 of the complaints process, and 18 at Stage 3. 20 complaints were dealt with by the Local Government Ombudsman.

To place this in context, there are over 22,000 people on the housing register and over this period we have advertised and let over 4,000 homes through Choice Based Lettings.

I hope that this answers your question.

Charlie Conyers
Business and Housing Options Development Manager
Housing, Regeneration and Environment
London Borough of Lambeth
phone: 020 7926 4402
e-mail: [email address]
website: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk

3rd Floor
2-7 Town Hall Parade
Brixton Hill
London SW2 1RP

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