Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the assessment of Mrs X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to make her any offers of suitable accommodation since she applied for rehousing. She says her current temporary accommodation is too small for her and her daughter and she needs a bigger home for her privacy and space for her walking frame.

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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. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X was accepted as homeless by the Council and placed in temporary accommodation. In 2022 she suffered a traffic accident which left her with injured legs and difficulty walking. She asked the Council to move her to more suitable accommodation and it subsequently offered her a flat which had a lift to access it without steps. Mrs X accepted the flat but she says it has less room than her previous one and she has no privacy and no space for her walking frame and her dog which is unable to live with her.
6. She has an active housing application but she is in medium priority C1 banding. The Council says it could be several years before any offer can be made due to high demand for social housing. There is no fixed period of time an applicant has to wait for an offer. The Council considers her flat is suitable for her housing needs and has accepted she is short of 1 bedroom which gives her the current priority.
7. The Council advised Mrs X to submit a medical assessment form if she believes she may have higher priority from a medical assessment of her current circumstances.
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 assessment of Mrs X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman