Summary: There was no fault in the way the Council carried out a review of Mrs B’s priority on its housing register.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains that the Council failed to carry out a home visit before reviewing its housing priority decision.
2. Mrs B considers that if there had been no fault, the Council would have decided that she was lacking two bedrooms, rather than one, and it would have given her more priority on the housing register. She says that as a result of this, her family continues to live in overcrowded accommodation.

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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

• considered the complaint and the documents provided by Mrs B;
• discussed the issues with Mrs B;
• 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

5. 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.
6. The scheme introduced in January 2023 places applicants in a priority band from Band A (highest priority) to Band D (lowest priority). It says Band C overcrowding will be awarded where the applicant’s household is lacking one bedroom and Band B will be awarded where the household is lacking two bedrooms.
7. The previous scheme placed applicants in a priority band from Band 1 (highest priority) to Band 4 (lowest priority). Band 3 was awarded where the household was lacking one bedroom and Band 2 where the household was lacking two bedrooms.
8. 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.
9. Statutory overcrowding
10. The Housing Act says that when calculating statutory overcrowding, rooms which are less than 4.65 square metres (50 square feet) should be disregarded.
11. Overview
12. Mrs B lives in a privately rented property with her husband and four children. She has been on the Council’s housing register since December 2017, when she was awarded Band 3 because she is lacking one bedroom.
13. In January 2023, Mrs B contacted the Council because she considered one of the rooms in her house should not be classed as a bedroom. She was advised to email the registration team and request a home visit.
14. Mrs B emailed the registration team and asked if someone would be coming out to see her property. She did not explain why she was asking this. The Council did not respond to the email.
15. When the Council introduced a new housing allocations scheme, it wrote to Mrs B explaining that she was moving from Band 3 to Band C.
16. Mrs B requested a review of the Council’s decision to award Band C. She said that one of the rooms should not be classed as a bedroom because it could only be accessed from one of the other bedrooms.
17. The Council carried out the review in March 2023. It upheld the decision that Mrs B is lacking one bedroom and therefore qualifies for Band C.
18. Analysis
19. Mrs B considers the Council was wrong to treat the property as having three bedrooms without carrying out a home visit. She says one of the rooms is too small to be classed as a bedroom and she has privacy concerns as it can only be accessed from another bedroom.
20. The Council did not consider the size of the room when it carried out the review because Mrs B did not refer to this in her review request. Mrs B also made no mention of requesting a home visit in her review request. I have seen nothing to suggest a room should not be classed as a bedroom because it can only be accessed via another bedroom. I have found no fault in the way the Council decided the household was lacking one bedroom and that Mrs B therefore qualified for Band C.
21. The Council should have responded to the email Mrs B sent on 27 January 2023 to the registration team. However, Mrs B’s email was not clear; she did not ask for a home visit or explain why she wanted one. If Mrs B considers the room is so small that it should not be classed as a bedroom, I would recommend that she contacts the registration team again, requests a home visit, and explains the reason for her request.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman