Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s banding 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 Ms X, complains the Council has placed her in band C on the housing register. Ms X says she should be in band B. She also complains about the way the Council has handled issues around her housing application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes Ms X’s housing application, medical evidence, housing plan and the Council’s responses. I considered our Assessment Code and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The allocation policy says the Council assesses overcrowding by considering the bedroom need in relation to the housing application. The Council awards band A if there are urgent medical issues. In all other cases, qualifying medical conditions attract band C. Band C covers a range of housing needs including people who lack one bedroom and share facilities.
5. Ms X submitted a housing application as a single applicant. She explained she has some medical issues. Ms X is living with family and stays in the conservatory; she shares the other facilities and says the house is very overcrowded.
6. The Council accepted the application and placed Ms X in band C. It explained she does not qualify for band B, due to overcrowding, because she has a one bedroom need. People can get band B for overcrowding if they lack two bedrooms. The Council said that as Ms X is a single applicant it cannot take into account the other people living in the house. It also explained that the evidence does not show she has an urgent medical need to move and band C is the other band that gives priority for medical issues.
7. Ms X says the room she stays in should not count as a bedroom. She also says the Council gave misleading information about sheltered housing, delayed assessing her medical evidence and she is unhappy with the way the Council managed her housing plan (PHP).
8. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. This is because the Council’s decision to put Ms X in band C is consistent with the policy. Ms X has a one bedroom need so is not overcrowded and there is nothing to suggest she would qualify for band A on medical grounds. If the room she stays in is not counted as a bedroom then Ms X still lacks one bedroom so qualifies for band C because she lacks a bedroom and shares facilities. She would only qualify for band B if she lacked two bedrooms.
9. In addition, the Council explained the qualifying rules for sheltered housing and any delay in assessing the medical evidence has not affected the application because the Council still assessed it and Ms X would remain in band C even if she qualified for medical priority. The Council has also provided Ms X with a PHP.
10. I appreciate Ms X thinks her banding is wrong and is unhappy with the Council’s management of her case but I have not seen anything which suggests we need to start an investigation.

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Final decision

11. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman