Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council will not allow the complainant to join 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 Ms X, complains the Council will not allow her to join the housing register. She wants to move because the rent and council tax are high and the house is not near to her daughter’s school. Ms X also says the house is too big.

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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 to Ms X’s housing application and to her homelessness application. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing allocation policy

4. The policy says people can join the housing register if they have a housing need as defined by the policy.
5. People qualify for medical priority if their current accommodation has a significant impact on their health.

What happened

6. Ms X lives with her daughter in a two bedroom house which she rents from a Housing Association. Ms X moved to the property in March 2020.
7. In July Ms X applied to join the housing register. She said the rent and council tax are expensive and it is some distance to her daughter’s school. Ms X later submitted some medical evidence to say she suffers from anxiety and has some weight issues. Ms X said she would like a bungalow and to move someone smaller.
8. The Council rejected her application because Ms X does not have a housing need as defined by the policy. A two bedroom home is the correct size and the medical information does not demonstrate she qualifies for medical priority. The Council explained that distance from school is not one of the grounds for which someone can join the housing register.
9. In December Ms X made a homeless application. The Council rejected the application because it decided Ms X is not homeless. This is because she has a Housing Association tenancy and has not been asked to leave. The Council considered the affordability of the property. It noted that all of the rent is covered by benefit and that Ms X’s bank statements showed that each month she has a closing balance of between £200 and £400. On this basis the Council decided the property is affordable.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The policy says people can join the housing register if they have a housing need. I appreciate Ms X would like to move but none of her reasons for moving equate to a ground for qualifying for the housing register. The Council’s decision not to allow Ms X to join the housing register is consistent with the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. We do not act as an appeal body and we cannot ask a council to do something which would be contrary to the policy.

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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