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. Miss X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says living in her current temporary accommodation is affecting her mental health and she has provided evidence for health professionals but remains in Band C on the housing register.

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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. Miss X says her mental health is suffering from being in temporary accommodation since July 2023. She applied for a review of her housing banding priority in September 2023 because she says she should have a higher banding than Band C which is awarded to most applicants in temporary accommodation.
6. She submitted a request through solicitors for a statutory review under s.166A of the Housing Act 1996. Miss X provided medical evidence of her condition with the review application. The Council’s review response was comprehensive and had regard to all the evidence and related policy and government guidance and legislation. The Council awarded Miss X’s application additional priority by changing it to Band C medical from Band C.
7. Miss X remained dissatisfied with the outcome as she believed her condition met the threshold for at least Band B priority but the Council disagreed.
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, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
9. 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. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Miss X’s application was not properly assessed.

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Final decision

10. 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