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 she has been assessed as Band E priority by the Council for her transfer application but she believes that she should qualify for Band B because she has multiple reasons to be rehoused. She asked for a review but this was unsuccessful.

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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’s review decision of her application. 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 is a social housing tenant with the Council and she applied for a transfer to move nearer to her son’s school which will be 2.8 miles away when he leaves his current school. She was awarded Band E priority because the Council considered that her current home is suitable for her needs.
6. The Council did not uphold the review and informed Mrs X that her case does not meet the threshold for medical, caring, hardship or social welfare grounds to warrant higher priority under its allocations policy.
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, 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. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Mrs X should be placed in a higher banding. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.

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Final decision

8. 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