Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant does not qualify to join 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 Ms X, says the Council placed her in band A on the housing register but has now removed her. She has health issues and says the Council needs to place her back in band A.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the correspondence about the application and the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Ms X applied to join the housing register in 2022. The Council said she was not eligible to join the register because she had not shown she had lived continuously in the borough for the past five years.
5. In 2023 Ms X provided more information about where she had previously lived. The Council considered the extra evidence and confirmed she is ineligible to join the housing register due to the residency rules. The Council placed Ms X in band D which meant she could not bid for a home but could access the website to explore other housing options.
6. Ms X then applied for medical priority. The Council temporarily re-opened the application so it could consider if Ms X qualifies for medical priority. It decided she does not qualify for medical priority and repeated she does not qualify for the housing register due to the five year rule.
7. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The allocations policy says people must have lived continuously in the borough for the five years prior to making an application. I have considered the address history Ms X gave to the Council and this shows she did not live in the borough for five continuous years prior to applying. This shows the Council correctly decided Ms X does not currently qualify for the housing register.
8. I have not seen any evidence the Council ever placed Ms X in band A. Ms X could not have qualified for band A because she does not meet the residency rules.
9. Ms X disagrees that she does not qualify for medical priority but, even if she had medical priority, she still could not join the housing register until she meets the residency rules.
10. Ms X says she was never in band D. But, band D is simply the band for people who are not on the housing register but have access to the website to explore alternative housing options. Any dispute about whether the Council placed Ms X in band D does not require an investigation.

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Final decision

11. 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