Revenge Disqualifications: How a Local Council Is Embarking on A Campaign to 'Silence' Vulnerable Housing Applicants...

The allegations come as part of the Teesside & Durham Posts Investigation into 'Hartlepool Homesearch', a choice based lettings scheme operated by Hartlepool Borough Council after a whilstle-blower bravely comes forward.

17th October 2025

This week, As part of a Teesside & Durham Post investigation into Hartlepool Homesearch, a council run Housing Allocations Scheme operated by Hartlepool Borough Council, we heard from yet another Hartlepool resident who tried to register with Hartlepool Homesearch — not just once, but three separate times — only to be rejected again and again.

Not because of rent arrears. Not because of anti-social behaviour. But apparently, for the “crime” of once standing up to one of the town’s major housing providers & finding themselves 'blacklisted' in the process ....

According to an insider with long-standing connections to Hartlepool Borough Council (HBC), this sinister new practice — now being dubbed “Revenge Disqualifications” — is becoming alarmingly common in Hartlepool.

Its claimed, applicants who have ever dared to challenge a housing association registered with the scheme, contacted solicitors, or simply make too much “noise” through complaints about their treatment by a registered Homesearch landlord are reportedly being quietly blacklisted from the housing register, sometimes years after their initial disputes had taken place.

Just as the private rental market faces criticism for so-called “revenge evictions,” it seems Hartlepool’s social housing system may now have its own version — Revenge Disqualifications.

Disabled Applicants Are Repeatedly Targeted

In one shocking case uncovered by The Teesside & Durham Post, two disabled applicants were disqualified from the housing register after previously taking legal action against Thirteen Housing Group in 2019 over property disrepair.

There was no record of rent arrears, no behavioural issues, and no breaches of tenancy — merely a past dispute about poor living conditions.

Yet despite applying three separate times over a three-year period to Hartlepool Borough Council, the pair were blocked from accessing social housing by Hartlepool Borough Council on every occasion.

Their appeals, we’re told, are a complete farce.

The applicants were reportedly informed that their case would be reviewed by a “panel of officers,” but insiders describe the process as nothing more than a rubber-stamping exercise.

“Appeals are usually reviewed by the same housing officers who made the original decision,” one source explained. “They might have someone from the council’s legal team there, (usually the Assistant Chief Solicitor) but it’s all done internally & behind closed doors — there’s no independence, no impartiality. If there’s no new evidence, the appeal’s rejected. Simple as that.”

In the case of the disabled applicants, their appeal was reportedly dismissed within eight weeks — “just before the officials in that meeting broke for lunch because we were running behind,” one insider quipped.

Applicants Being Held to Ransom Over Phantom Debts

But the injustice doesn’t stop there.

Other residents have come forward claiming that Homesearch applicants are being held to ransom over alleged rent arrears from years ago — arrears that neither the council nor the landlords can prove exist.

Despite the absence of any evidence, Hartlepool Homesearch appears content to take the landlord’s word as gospel, forcing applicants to either pay up or face being disqualified from the register altogether.

Tenants previously made Bankrupt, or taken out a Debt Relief Order face a similar fate, where despite falling upon hard times &showing evidence they've improved their financial circumstances, its claimed this in itself is not taken onboard by council officials who are in most cases "automatically disqualifying" applicants regardless of the length of time since any insolvency proceedings were concluded....

“This system is just cruel,”

“It’s bureaucratic to the point of being heartless. Vulnerable people — often disabled, sick, or living in temporary conditions — are being punished for daring to speak out.”

A System Built on Fear and Control

What was meant to be a fair and compassionate housing system has literally morphed into a digital lottery — one where the loudest critics are quietly silenced, and the most vulnerable are being shut out.

The Homesearch scheme was designed to bring transparency and fairness to the allocation of social housing in Hartlepool. But for too many residents, it's become a symbol of control, secrecy, and retaliation.

One thing’s for certain — Hartlepool Homesearch seems less about helping people find homes, and more about punishing those who dare to question the system.