Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s housing register application. This is because it is unlikely he would find fault by the Council and an investigation would not achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, has complained about how the Council has dealt with his housing register application. Mr X says he requires centrally located accommodation so he can attend medical appointments, but the Council has offered him properties which are too far away.

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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
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mr X’s complaint and the correspondence from the Council. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision and I have considered his comments in response.

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What I found

4. The Council’s housing register has four different bands to determine priority for housing. Band A is the highest priority and is for applicants that have an urgent need to move. Band D is the lowest priority and is for applicants with no housing priority.
5. Applicants living outside of Worthing will be eligible for the Council’s housing register if they have a local connection to the area. They must prove they have a need to move to the area and accommodation is likely to be available to meet their housing needs. The Council’s policy says applicants living outside Worthing will not have priority above applicants in the area and will not qualify for Band A and B.

What happened

6. Mr X was accepted onto the Council’s housing register in 2010. He has not lived in the Council’s area for some time but wants to return as he believes it will benefit his health and wellbeing. The Council gave Mr X’s application Band C priority.
7. Mr X has been bidding on properties in his preferred location for some time but has not been successful. The Council has offered Mr X four properties since 2013, however he has refused these as they are too far away. Mr X says the Council has failed to consider his health conditions or his need to move to a central location. The Council says that Mr X has been placed in the correct priority band and has suggested he expand the area he is willing to consider to increase his chance of securing a property.

Assessment

8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with his housing register application. This is as it is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault by the Council.
9. Mr X has been on the housing register for some time but his bids for properties in his preferred location have been unsuccessful. Mr X says he needs a property in the town centre so he can attend medical appointments. He also says the Council has not considered the high travel costs he will incur if he does not live in a central location. But the area Mr X wants to move to is popular and receives many bids from people with higher priority than him. Mr X already has the highest priority for someone in his circumstances and does not qualify for band A or B. As the Council’s decision to place Mr X in Band C is consistent with its policy, there is no reason to start an investigation. An investigation would also not achieve anything further for Mr X as he is already in the highest band for applicants living outside of the Council’s area.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely he would find fault and an investigation would not achieve what Mr X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman