Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, disagrees with the Council’s decision to place him in the bronze band on the housing register.

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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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered the letters the Council sent to Mr X about his banding and the lettings policy. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Lettings policy

4. The Council puts people in bands on the housing register to help it determine priority for housing. Bronze is the lowest band. People can qualify for the gold or silver bands if, for example, there is serious disrepair or the accommodation is having a significant impact on someone’s health. The Council will award silver status to try to prevent someone from becoming homeless.

What happened

5. Mr X was living in private accommodation where the rent was £700 a month. He left due to health and safety issues. He was in the gold band on the housing register.
6. Mr X moved to a three bedroom home. The rent is £700 a month. He reapplied to join the housing register. The Council accepted the application. It placed him in the silver band with a two bedroom need. The Council awarded silver because Mr X said the rent was unaffordable and he was threatened with homelessness.
7. The Council asked for further information about Mr X’s finances. Based on the new information from Mr X the Council reduced the banding to bronze. The reasons for the demotion included that Mr X and his partner work and earn too much to qualify for housing benefit. In addition, the Council noted that they have savings of more than £27,000 and manage their rent without having to use their savings. The Council noted that Mr X had moved to a home which is too big for his needs and that the rent on the old property was also £700. Mr X had not stated he had moved due to unaffordability. The Council also noted that Mr X does not have any rent arrears.
8. Mr X appealed. Amongst other points he said the savings were for a university fund and could not be touched. He said he had no disposable income at the end of each month and there was no difference between the rent for a two and three bedroom home.
9. Mr X’s appeal was considered by four people. They unanimously decided that bronze was the correct band. Mr X complained and said he had previously complained about one of the panel members. In response the Council said that even disregarding that person the majority still decided the property was not unaffordable.
10. Mr X disagrees with the outcome and says he should be in a higher band.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I have considered the bands as defined by the lettings policy, the points made by Mr X and the Council’s reasons for placing Mr X in the bronze band. Having considered all the evidence there is nothing to suggest fault in Council’s decision to place Mr X in the bronze band and nothing to suggest that the property is unaffordable or that Mr X is threatened with homelessness such that he would qualify for the silver band. If the property was unaffordable, or Mr X was threatened with homelessness, I would have expected Mr X to have given the Council evidence of rent arrears and to have been in receipt of housing benefit. It is also relevant that Mr X chose to rent a property that is larger than he needs.
12. The Ombudsman does not act as an appeal body. He cannot intervene simply because the Council makes a decision that someone disagrees with.

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Final decision

13. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman