Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says she has been on the waiting list for over three years and has not received any suitable offers. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains about the Council’s failure to rehouse her following her application for housing over three years ago. She feels that other applicants are being given higher priority when on the list for a shorter period of time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Mrs X submitted with her complaint.

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What I found

4. Mrs X lives in her mother’s social rented home and shares a bedroom with her sister and her children. She applied for housing to the Council over three years ago and says she understood she would be offered a property after 3 years. She is currently in Band B on the waiting list but says other applicants have been housed ahead of her with less time on the list.
5. The Council told her that Band B is the highest category which she could be in under her current circumstances. Even if she provides evidence that she has medical needs caused by her current housing situation, it is unlikely that she would be moved into a higher banding. Band A is reserved for emergency cases or where an applicant could release a larger property to the Council. There is no set length of time for when an applicant can be rehoused. This depends on how many applicants are on the list with higher priority and this is continuously changing.
6. 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. We would not uphold the complaint if the council has followed proper procedures, relevant legislation and guidance and taken account of all the information provided, even if the complainant feels that the council should have given more priority to their application.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman