Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Ms X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation .

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says she feels the Council has not given sufficient consideration of her son’s medical condition and that she is having to sleep in the dining room with her husband because her son requires a separate bedroom which their current home lacks.

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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 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

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X says the Council failed to give sufficient priority to her housing application. Her son has a medical condition which requires her to be on the same floor as his bedroom in case he has a seizure and their current home is too small. He needs a separate bedroom and his parents also need a bedroom which they are lacking at present.
6. Ms X asked the Council to review her case and it carried out a review under s.166A of the Housing Act 1996. The review took the medical evidence into account and concluded that she was eligible for Band B under the allocations scheme because her son requires a separate bedroom for medical reasons. Ms X says she should be placed in Band A but this is reserved for urgent medical cases where there is danger to life or a terminal illness or the need for space medical equipment and adaptations.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
8. We may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone, if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published allocations policy. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Ms X’s housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman