Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the housing register because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains the Council will not backdate the start of her housing application.

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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 comments Mrs X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mrs X joined the housing register in 2000. She moved to her current home in 2009. The Council closed the application in 2009 because Mrs X had been rehoused.
5. Mrs X re-joined the housing register in 2011. In 2014 the Council wrote to Mrs X to ask if she wanted to remain on the register. Mrs X did not reply to the letter so the Council closed the application. The Council notified Mrs X and offered review rights. The letter told Mrs X that if she reapplied to the housing register it would be treated as a new application and she would have “to start all over again”. Mrs X says she was unwell at the time and under a lot of stress. The Council says Mrs X did not make contact again until 2017.
6. Mrs X re-joined the housing register in 2018. The Council awarded medical priority because Mrs X has some health issues.
7. Mrs X asked the Council to backdate the start of her application. The Council declined because the previous application was closed in 2014.
8. In response to a draft of this decision Mrs X denied reapplying to the register in 2011. She says there would not have been any need as she was happy with her housing. Mrs X says she only applied in 2000 and 2018.

Assessment

9. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council ended Mrs X’s application in 2014 because she did not reply to a letter. I have seen the letter the Council sent in 2014 which confirms Mrs X had made an application between 2009 and 2014. It is unfortunate that Mrs X was unwell but she could have sought a review if she disagreed with the decision to close the application in 2014 or she could have re-applied before 2018. The start date for an application reflects the start of the current application. The Council cannot apply an earlier date because Mrs X was not on the register from 2014 until 2018. Mrs X’s current application started in 2018 and that is the correct start date.
10. In addition, Mrs X says she was happy with her housing so had no need to reapply for housing. The housing register is for people who have a housing need and are actively looking to move. People cannot keep a housing application open, to generate waiting time, simply because they may wish to move in the future.

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Final decision

11. 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