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

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says that she has been awarded Band B priority but should be in Band A because of her family’s housing needs.

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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. 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. Mrs X applied to the Council for rehousing because she says she is overcrowded and her family have medical needs. The Council awarded her Band B priority for having medical welfare needs for her daughter who needs a separate bedroom and level shower access.
6. Mrs X says she should be awarded Band A because she is also overcrowded by lacking an extra bedroom. The Council reviewed her application but this was not upheld. Mrs X asked for a further review and this was carried out by a neighbouring council who operate the joint housing allocations policy with other authorities.
7. The other district council also did not change Mrs X’s banding which it considered to be correctly assessed under the allocations policy. It explained to Mrs X that the allocations policy did not add extra priority for both medical needs for a bedroom and being overcrowding by lacking a bedroom as they amount to the same need.
8. 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. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Mrs X should be placed in a higher banding.

We 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

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a 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