Summary: Ms X complained about the way the Council handled her application to be on its Housing Register. We will not investigate the complaint because Ms X has not yet completed the Council’s review procedure.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to consider properly her application to be on its Housing Register and then failed to review its decision properly through its review and complaints procedures.

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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 would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read Ms X’s complaint and spoke to her by telephone. I also considered the Council’s responses to her through its complaints procedure and its Stage 1 review of her housing application decision.
4. I gave Ms X an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

5. At the end of 2019 Ms X applied to go on the Council’s Housing Register so she could apply for social housing. The Council told her she was not eligible to be on the Register because she had not lived in its area for long enough. She applied again in 2020 and provided information to explain why the Council should consider her circumstances merited exemption from its residency rule.
6. The Council considered Ms X’s circumstances and considered she did not qualify for exemption from its residency rule. The Council told Ms X she could ask for her decision to be reviewed.
7. Ms X complained to the Council about the way the Council had handled her application. She also asked the Council to review its decision on her application.
8. In October 2020 the Council upheld parts of her complaint and offered her a small payment to acknowledge the effect on her of its fault. The Council considered it could do no more at Stage 2 of its complaints procedure than it had already done and signposted Ms X to us.
9. The Council sent Ms X its Stage 1 review decision in January 2021. The Council upheld its decision not to put Ms X on its Housing Register. Ms X asked the Council to review her case further under Stage 2 of its review procedure. She sent the Council new information about her current circumstances. The Council is still in the process of reviewing Ms X’s application.
10. Although Ms X has completed the Council’s complaints procedure, the details of her application have not yet been reviewed through the last stage of the Council’s housing review procedure. The outcome of the review may alter matters significantly so we should not investigate Ms X’s complaint while the review is still in progress.
11. If Ms X is unhappy with the eventual outcome of the review we can consider a new complaint from her.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint because Ms X has not yet completed the Council’s review procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman