Summary: Mrs D complained about the Council’s assessment of her bedroom need. We find no fault with the Council’s decision making.

The complaint

1. Mrs D complained about the Council’s assessment of her bedroom need. She says she needs a two-bedroom property for her and her carer, but the Council has only assessed her as needing one bedroom.
2. Mrs D says the matter has caused upset and distress. She says she cannot bid on properties that meet her needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. Mrs D refers to matters from 2021, but she did not refer her complaint to us until June 2024. As this was an ongoing issue, I will investigate matters from June 2023. However, I am satisfied there are no good reasons to investigate matters before June 2023. Any reference to matters before June 2023 will be for contextual purposes only.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information from Mrs D and the Council.
7. Mrs D and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Housing allocations

8. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
9. The Council’s housing allocations scheme sets out the bedroom entitlement for an applicant. For a single person, or a couple, this is one bedroom. The Council will also consider giving a single person an additional bedroom if they have a carer or team of carers who do not live at the property but provide permanent overnight care.

What happened

10. Mrs D is homeless. She lives in temporary accommodation in a one-bedroom property that she shares with her friend. Her friend provides her with care and support.
11. Mrs D is registered on the Council’s housing register as needing a one-bedroom property. She has repeatedly challenged this decision. She says she needs a second bedroom for her carer.
12. Mrs D sent the Council her care needs assessment in June 2023. She said this was evidence she qualified for two bedrooms. The Council reviewed this evidence in July. It spoke to Mrs D and said it needed supporting evidence that she had a care package for a full-time permanent carer (seven nights a week). It said the assessment she provided did not state this. Without this information, it could not award her an extra bedroom for a carer.
13. Mrs D complained to the Council in April 2024 about its assessment of her bedroom need. The Council responded. It said it had details of Mrs D’s medical conditions and support needs. However, it had no information which stated Mrs D required a permanent overnight carer who needed a bedroom of their own to sleep in. It said it had reviewed the care needs assessment she sent in June 2023 and spoken to a manager in the adult care service. The manager said Mrs D stated during the assessment her friend provides her with overnight care. However, if Mrs D lived on her own the team could not identify any needs that would require overnight care. She said Mrs D’s needs could be met by care during the day and assistive technology.

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Analysis

14. 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 the complainant disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
15. The Council has considered the information from Mrs D. It has explained why it is not sufficient to award her a second bedroom, and what information she would need to provide. It considered the information in line with its allocations policy. While I appreciate Mrs D’s disappointment, I find no fault with the Council’s decision making.

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Final decision

16. I have completed my investigation of Mrs D’s complaint. The Council was not at fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman