Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s wish to move home. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X, who lives in Hastings Borough Council’s area, complained about the lack of suitable properties to bid for on the Council’s housing register and that she is not being considered for social housing elsewhere. She says this means she and her child remain in a home that does not suit her disabilities.

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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 the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Being on the housing register is not a guarantee of getting social housing. The Council’s housing register has far more applicants for the type of housing Miss X seeks than the number of available properties. The Council’s role is to advertise and allocate the properties that become available. The shortage of those properties is not the Council’s fault.
6. Miss X is willing to move elsewhere rather than wait for a home in the Council’s area. She is unhappy she is not being considered for social housing in other areas.
7. Hastings Borough Council can only deal with social housing in its area. It cannot get social housing for Miss X elsewhere. Nor can it influence other councils’ decisions about whether to let Miss X join their housing registers. Hastings Borough Council is not at fault here.
8. If Miss X believes any other council has wrongly refused to consider her for social housing, that would be a separate complaint against that council.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council is not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman