Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the level of priority given to Miss X’s housing application. The evidence suggests the Council properly reached its decision.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has not given her housing application enough priority. She says this has resulted in her and her child continuing to live in overcrowded housing with less likelihood of getting social housing.

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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 and correspondence from the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. It is for the Council, not the Ombudsman, to decide how much priority Miss X’s housing application should have. As paragraph 2 explains, we would only criticise the Council if its decision was not properly reached.
6. Miss X and her baby lodge in a relative’s home where the relative also lives. The property only has one bedroom, so is overcrowded. As Miss X is a lodger, there is no fault in the Council considering her a licensee in terms of her tenure rights. The Council’s housing allocations policy gives Band C priority to:

‘Overcrowded licensees – Applicant/s who live in overcrowded accommodation in someone else’s house with permission and who do not have a rented or other property.’

The Council gave Miss X Band C priority. That was in line with its policy.

7. Miss X argued the Council was at fault for giving her Band C because she said someone she knew in similar circumstances got Band B. The Council gave me some information about the other person’s circumstances. For confidentiality reasons, I cannot share that with Miss X. However, the information does not suggest any fault by the Council affecting Miss X’s banding.
8. At Miss X’s request, the Council reviewed its original decision. It confirmed its decision that Band C was correct. Those decisions might be unwelcome to Miss X and she is entitled to disagree with them. However, the original and review decisions seem properly reached, based on the Council’s policy and what it knew of Miss X’s circumstances. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot criticise those decisions, for the reason given in paragraph 2.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because investigation is unlikely to find enough evidence of fault by the Council. The evidence suggests the Council properly reached its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman