Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council (19 001 448)

Category : Housing > Allocations

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 15 Oct 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to properly consider her need to move to social housing in its area. There is no fault in the Council’s consideration of Ms X’s application to join its housing register.

The complaint

  1. Ms X complains the Council has refused to accept her on its housing register. Ms X says she needs to move to be closer to her son for support. The Council says Ms X has no local connection as she has not lived in its area long enough. Ms X says the Council’s decision has caused her distress.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I have spoken to Ms X about her complaint and considered the information she provided to the Ombudsman. I have also considered the Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaint and its review of its refusal to allow her onto its housing register.
  2. I have written to Ms X and the Council with my draft decision and given them an opportunity to comment.

Back to top

What I found

Allocation of social housing

  1. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing.  All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme.  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
  2. Councils must notify applicants in writing of the following decisions and give reasons:
    • that the applicant is not eligible for an allocation;
    • that the applicant is not a qualifying person;
    • a decision not to award the applicant reasonable preference because of their unacceptable behaviour.
  3. The Council must also notify the applicant of the right to request a review of these decisions. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(9))
  4. Housing applicants can ask the council to review a wide range of decisions about their applications, including decisions about their housing priority.

The Council’s housing allocations policy

  1. The Council’s housing allocations policy says it will only allow applicants onto the register if they have a local connection. The policy defines a local connection as:
    • Where a person has lived in settled accommodation in the area for the last 6 months.
    • Where a person has lived in the area for at least 6 months out of the last 12 months, or for 3 years our of the last 5 years.
    • They or a member of their household is employed on a permanent basis or a temporary contract running for a minimum of 12 months, within the area.
    • They have parents, brothers, sisters or adult children (over 18 years old) who have been living within the area for at least 5 years.
  2. The policy says that other “special circumstances may exist, and all applications will be considered on their individual circumstances”.

What happened

  1. Ms X lives outside the Council’s area in another part of the UK. She suffers from depression, arthritis and asthma.
  2. Ms X’s son lives in the Council’s area and has done for over 4 years since March 2015.
  3. Ms X applied to the Council for a place on its housing register. The Council rejected Ms X’s application as she did not have a local connection to its area.
  4. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision and provided it with copies of letters from her GP. The Council contacted Ms X’s GP to confirm her medication and medical history.
  5. On 12 March 2018 the Council wrote to Ms X to say it had upheld its decision to refuse to allow her on its housing register. The Council said Miss X had no local connection to the area. The Council said it had considered the medical evidence she provided and it was “unable to identify any urgent medical condition that would warrant a need to move to the… area, to gain care or support. Therefore a special connection to the… area will not be awarded at this time.”

My findings

  1. There is no fault in the Council’s decision to refuse to allow Ms X to join its housing register. The Council has considered Ms X’s medical conditions and confirmed her medical history with her GP. The Council’s consideration of this is set out in its letter to Ms X of 12 March 2018.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. I have completed my investigation into this complaint as I have found no fault.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings