Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains the Council moved her from band two to band three on the housing register. She also says the Council should have placed her in band one because she was experiencing racial harassment. Ms X says she would have been housed by now, and avoided the harassment, if the Council had placed her in the correct band.

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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))
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and information about Ms X’s priority on the housing register. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Ms X has been on the housing register since about 2015. The Council awarded low medical priority in 2016. In 2016 it also awarded band three for overcrowding because the birth of her son meant she needed another bedroom.
6. Ms X moved and updated her application. The Council reassessed her application in 2018 and awarded band three and low medical priority. I have seen a screenshot showing band three was awarded in 2018.
7. Ms X says she had to leave that property due to racial harassment. She moved to her current address in June 2021 and updated her application. Ms X is in band three because she lacks a bedroom and has low medical priority.
8. Ms X says the Council should award band one because of the harassment and because she is statutorily overcrowded. She says she would have been housed by now, and avoided the harassment, if the Council had not moved her from band two to three.
9. In response to the complaint the Council said Ms X has never been in band two. It said she is in the correct band because she lacks a bedroom and still has the low medical priority which states she needs a property with a lift if it is above the ground floor. The Council said she is not statutorily overcrowded due to the age of her child.
10. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Ms X has always been in band three and this is the correct band for someone lacking a bedroom and has low medical priority. I have not seen any evidence Ms X was ever in band two. I have checked the rules and, whilst Ms X needs another bedroom, she is not statutorily overcrowded.
11. Ms X would not qualify for band one due to harassment because she is not experiencing harassment in her current home. She left the home where she experienced harassment in June 2021. If she thought she should be in a higher band, while experiencing the harassment, then that is a matter she needed to pursue while still living in the property. But, as she left in June 2021, that part of the complaint is late.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman