Summary: There was no fault in the way the Council decided that Miss B does not qualify to join the Council’s housing register.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains that the Council failed to properly consider her housing application and wrongly decided that she does not qualify to join the housing register.
2. Miss B says that as a result of this, she does not have suitable accommodation and is having to sofa surf at family and friend’s homes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have:
• considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant;
• considered the documents the Council has provided; and
• given the Council and the complainant the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Housing Allocations

6. The Council operates a choice-based lettings scheme. The Council’s housing allocations scheme sets out the rules for qualifying to join the housing register, how applicants are prioritised and how the Council manages the allocation of available properties.
7. The Council places applicants who qualify to join the housing register in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority). Applicants whose circumstances do not warrant inclusion in any of the bands are considered to have no housing need and do not qualify to join the housing register.

Key events and analysis

8. Miss B applied to join the housing register in June 2021. On her application form, she said that she was living with her aunt and her grandmother in a three-bedroom house. Miss B stated that she needed housing because she was living in insanitary/unfit conditions and the accommodation was overcrowded.
9. The Council decided that Miss B did not qualify to join the register. It said that the information she had provided showed that there were three people occupying a three-bedroom property and that according to its Allocations Scheme, she was not overcrowded. It also explained that the ‘insanitary/unfit conditions’ housing need was only for applicants who were renting privately and there was a category 1 hazard in their accommodation.
10. Miss B asked the Council to review its decision. She said that her grandmother needed overnight care and one of the bedrooms was used by agency carers.
11. Miss B provided extracts from two of her grandmother’s care and needs assessments as supporting evidence. The documents were from 2014 and 2015 and showed that Miss B’s grandmother had said she needed support at night and this was provided by her daughter, who she employed as her personal assistant.
12. The Council wrote to Miss B after considering her request for a review. It referred to the supporting evidence which showed that Miss B’s grandmother was supported at night by her daughter. The Council upheld its decision that Miss B did not have a recognised housing need under the Council’s Allocations Scheme and therefore did not qualify to join the housing register.
13. Dissatisfied with the Council’s decision, Miss B complained to the Ombudsman. She said that the Council was wrong to assume that her grandmother’s carer was the aunt who lived with her grandmother. Miss B also said that she does not stay at the property every night and sofa surfs with friends because she does not have a room of her own.
14. The evidence Miss B provided does not show that one of the rooms is needed by carers. Miss B has not told the Council that she is sofa surfing; she said on her application that she was living with family. Miss B has not provided any evidence to show that she has a recognised housing need under the Council’s Allocations Scheme. I have found no evidence of fault in the way the Council decided that Miss B does not qualify to join the housing register.

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Final decision

15. I have completed my investigation and do not uphold Miss B’s complaint. There was no fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman