Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s housing. There is no fault in the Council not giving weight to past circumstances when considering Miss X’s current housing situation. Any homelessness offer will have review and appeal rights. Outside the homelessness system, Miss X can specify her preferred area, but it is not the Council’s fault that an offer there might take some time.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has not taken account of her past circumstances when saying it will not make her a quick offer of social housing in the area where she used to live. She states this has caused distress.

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

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My assessment

5. Miss X previously had a housing association property. She reports she felt she had no alternative but to move out, due to harassment from a neighbour. She moved to her current, privately rented, home. Miss X states she can no longer afford her rent. She wants social housing in the same area as before, near her work and her children’s school. Miss X wants the Council to prioritise her for social housing in that area as she previously had social housing there that she states she had to leave through no fault of her own.
6. When dealing with homelessness or housing applications, the Council must deal with an applicant’s current circumstances. Here, that is Miss X being in private rented accommodation she states is unaffordable. The Council must allocate social housing in line with its allocations policy. In its consideration of Miss X’s current wish to move, there is no fault in it not giving weight to Miss X’s history of previously living in social housing and her reasons for leaving that home.
7. The Council’s position on Miss X’s wish to live in a particular area would differ depending on whether it owed Miss X a legal homelessness duty.
8. Someone can be legally homeless if their home is unaffordable. If the Council were to owe Miss X a legal homelessness duty, it would have to secure either privately rented or social housing for her family. The Council’s policy would be to put Miss X in Band 1 on the housing register with the aim of offering social housing quickly. The Council will not guarantee any such offer would be in Miss X’s preferred area.
9. Nevertheless, any accommodation offered to end a homelessness duty must be legally suitable. That can include the location with regard to employment and children’s education. If Miss X were to consider any homelessness offer unsuitable, she would have the legal right to ask the Council to review the suitability. If the Council’s review still decided the offer was suitable, Miss X could appeal to the county court on point of law. (Housing Act 1996, sections 202 and 204) So the Council’s view of suitability would not necessarily be the last word.
10. I cannot speculate about whether a legally suitable homelessness offer must only be on the estate Miss X specifies. That would be for the review and appeal procedures to decide. However, there is no fault in the Council not making a specific guarantee in advance.
11. If Miss X does not enter the homelessness system, she would be in Band 2 on the housing register. The Council says in that case Miss X could specify she only wanted a particular area, but she might have a long wait for the area she wants. I see no fault in that. With the housing register, the Council’s duty is not actually to house someone within a particular timescale or at all. Its duty is simply to allocate vacant properties in line with its policy.
12. I acknowledge Miss X’s difficulties, regarding both the move from her previous social housing and the cost of her current accommodation. However, I do not see evidence of fault by the Council causing injustice. Rather, the difficulty of moving back to social housing in her previous area stems mainly from the shortage of available social housing.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. There is no fault in the Council not giving weight to historic circumstances when considering Miss X’s current housing situation. Any homelessness offer will have review and appeal rights. Outside the homelessness system, Miss X will be able to specify her preferred area, but it is not the Council’s fault that an offer in that area might take some time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman