Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council allocated one of its properties. This is because the Council allocated the property to a person with higher priority on the housing register than the complainant, and we are unlikely to find evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to allocate a property to another applicant. Mr X says because of the Council’s decision, he remains in unsuitable accommodation and would like the Council to honour its offer.

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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 or may decide not to continue with 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 Mr X, including his comments in response to my draft decision. I also considered information provided by the Council and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mr X is on the Council’s housing register and is in band B.
5. Mr X says his current accommodation is unsuitable due to overcrowding and issues regarding access. The Council offered Mr X a ground floor property in 2019 which he declined. He was later advised by the Council that a potential suitable property had become available.
6. The Council began its process to see if it could offer the property to Mr X, however it subsequently offered the property to an applicant in band A.
7. Whilst I recognise it was disappointing for Mr X, there is no suggestion of fault in the Council’s decision to offer the property to an applicant in band A; applicants in band A have more priority than applicants in band B. The Council’s decision is consistent with the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault in how the Council allocated the property.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman