Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application and disrepair in social rented housing. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s assessment which would warrant an investigation. We cannot investigate complaints about disrepair in social rented housing.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about damp and mould in her council rented flat which she says has affected her family for the past 10 years. She says she is living in overcrowded, unhealthy conditions and should have higher priority to move than her current points allocation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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 how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information provided by the complainant. I have also read the Council’s housing allocations policy.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X says she has been living in damp conditions in her council-rented flat for 10 years. She says the 1-bedroom flat is overcrowded by having herself and four children living in damp conditions on the 8th floor. She asked the Council to review her housing priority and it sent a final decision on this in May 2022 in which it confirmed that she had 100 points for overcrowding but there were no medical conditions in the family which would warrant medical priority. It also advised her to report any disrepair to the repairs service so that the property could be inspected for the source.
8. Ms X complained to us in September 2023 which is outside the12-month period for challenging the priority review decision of 2022. The Council considered her complaint as a final stage of the complaints procedure and it was investigated by an independent reviewer.
9. The reviewer concluded that the points allocated to Ms X which were supported by the 2022 decision were correct and according to the housing allocations scheme. It pointed out that Ms X had not submitted any new information about medical conditions since the previous review and that she had only supplied confirmation of the ongoing issues. Unless there were new qualifying medical needs the assessment would not be changed.
10. We will not investigate the review of Ms X’s application which was carried out in early 2022. This matter is more than 12-months before she complained to us. there is no evidence to suggest that she could not have complained to us sooner.
11. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about dampness and mould in her home. Ms X is a social housing tenant and complaints about disrepair should be submitted to the Housing Ombudsman service which is the body which deals with these matters. We have no jurisdiction to consider these complaints.
12. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint and confirmed that she has been assessed correctly according to her needs under the Council’s housing allocations policy. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application/ a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application and disrepair in social rented housing. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s assessment which would warrant an investigation. We cannot investigate complaints about disrepair in social rented housing.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman