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. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to process her application to the housing register. She says the Council has demanded more information from her which she believes is unnecessary and that this amounts to bullying behaviour.

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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 applied to the Council’s housing register in 2024. She told the Council that she had medical needs but did not provide the required details or supporting letters from a GP or medical specialists. She stated on her application that she required 2 bedrooms and the Council contacted her to advise why it needed medical evidence for this before her application could be processed.
6. Ms X says she believes the information she provided was sufficient and that the Council’s requirements were unreasonable. The Council says it does not have housing stock of its own and that for an applicant to have medical priority they need to verify the medical needs and type of accommodation required to best meet those needs. The Council can then determine which vacancies available from housing providers are most suitable for the applicants on the housing list.
7. The Council has offered to assist Ms X with obtaining medical details and advised her about seeking a report from an Occupational Therapist to support her claims for additional bedroom need. I can find no evidence of fault in the Council requiring Ms X to provide enough information for it to assess her application accurately.
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.

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

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