Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to rehouse Miss X. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about not be offered a suitable property during her time on the housing waiting list since November 2020. She says her current 3-bedrom home is overcrowded for her family of 5 and she needs a larger home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X was accepted onto the Council’s housing register in November 2020. She requires a 4-bedroom property with no stairs and currently she is in a 3-bedroom housing association home which she says is too small for her family of 5. She says has had no offers in the two years on the list and that the current accommodation is too small and has too little space and storage for her family.
6. The Council advised her that she is in the highest banding for her needs and that there is very little level accommodation with 4 bedrooms and even fewer vacancies. There have been other families ahead of her previously because they have been waiting longer for similar accommodation.
7. Miss X asked to be considered for a management transfer but this was not available to her because she does not meet the criteria for an urgent transfer outside the normal allocation system. She is in the correct banding for overcrowding and there is no prospect of an offer in the near future given the shortage of vacancies.
8. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application/ a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. We may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone, if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to rehouse Miss X. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman