Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant cannot join the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council will not let him join the housing register. He disagrees with the decision and wants to join the register.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the correspondence about the housing application and the allocations policy. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

4. The allocations policy says someone can join the housing register if they have a housing need as defined by the policy. People may have a housing need if they live in overcrowded conditions. The Council takes the living room into account when considering how many rooms a household has available for sleeping.
5. Mr X lives in a two bedroom property. He needs a three bedroom home. The Council rejected his application to join the housing register because, when the living room is included, he has three rooms available for sleeping.
6. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I appreciate Mr X needs a larger home but, when measured against the policy, he is not living in overcrowded conditions and has no housing need. This is because he needs three bedrooms and the inclusion of the living room means he has access to three bedrooms. The Council’s decision to refuse the application is consistent with the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. We are not an appeal body and we cannot intervene simply because a council makes a decision that someone disagrees with.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman