Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority on 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 about his priority on the housing register. He also says the Council failed to help him deal with disrepair in his privately rented home.

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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 complaint correspondence. 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. Mr X lives in private rented accommodation which he says is in an unsatisfactory condition. He has been on the housing register since 2012 and is currently in band C for medical reasons. An Environmental Health officer inspected his flat in January and found no serious problems. She noted some mould on the bathroom ceiling and gave advice on how Mr X could deal with this.
5. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I checked the allocations policy and Mr X is in the correct band. I have considered the report about the disrepair and there is nothing to suggest the Council needs to take any further action. Mr X could contact his landlord about the mould on the ceiling.
6. I appreciate Mr X would like to move but there is nothing to suggest we need to start an investigation.

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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