Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s assessment of his housing application. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s assessment of his housing application which he says placed him in a low banding. He says he has medical needs and should be moved from his present temporary accommodation.

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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 Mr X submitted with his complaint and he has commented on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says he has been in temporary rented accommodation for the past two years. He has a disability and says he needs to move because he is struggling with the stairs in his current home.
5. The Council assessed him as having reasonable preference for housing owing to his medical needs. His priority was assessed as Band B which is due to his having not met the Council’s five years residence requirement of its allocations scheme. He appealed against the decision and later asked for a review. The Council’s decision on his priority was unchanged because it says he is correctly assessed for his circumstances.
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. In this case the Council has correctly applied its allocations policy to Mr X’s situation. We do not investigate complaints just because the complainant feels they should be rehoused by a council. Unless there is fault in the assessment of the application, he cannot ask for the banding to be changed.

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Final decision

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

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman