Summary: Ms Y complained the Council has refused to give her medical priority on its housing register. She says it has not considered her vulnerabilities due to her disabilities. We found the Council is not at fault.

The complaint

1. Ms Y complains the Council has incorrectly refused to give her medical priority for housing application allocation. She says this has adversely impacted her health.

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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)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

4. Some of the issues raised by Ms Y are outside the jurisdiction of this office. For this reason, I will not investigate any issues which relate to the way the Council has dealt with disrepair of Ms Y’s current property. This is because we cannot look at issues about the way the Council has acted in its role as a landlord.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered information provided by the Council and Ms Y, alongside the relevant law and guidance.
6. Ms Y and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on a draft decision before this final decision was made.

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What I found

Law and guidance

7. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new freedoms to allow councils to better manage their waiting list and to tailor their allocation priorities to meet local needs.
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. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:

• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))

10. The Council’s allocations policy states medical priority will be given to those who have been discharged from hospital and cannot return to their homes because it is no longer suitable for their needs. It also allows for priority to be given to those who have medical needs which are seriously affected by the design of their home.

What happened

11. Ms Y applied to the Council for re-housing on the basis of her medical needs, in February 2024. She included medical evidence to support her application.
12. In February 2024, the Council made a decision and notified Ms Y that she was not eligible for medical priority. It explained the medical evidence and the application had been considered by the Council as well as advice from the Council’s medical adviser.
13. The medical adviser said medical priority did not apply as Ms Y already resides in a ground floor self-contained property. They also said Ms Y wished to be prioritised on the basis there was damp and mould at the property and explained that this is not a medical issue.
14. Ms Y disagreed with the Council’s decision and provided further medical evidence.
15. The Council wrote to Ms Y in July 2024, and confirmed it had considered her further evidence, had taken advice from its medical adviser, and decided she was not eligible for prioritising.
16. The Council’s decision letter suggested Ms Y contact the Council as her landlord to remedy damp and mould issues at the property.
17. Ms Y asked the Council to review its decision. In October 2024, the Council made a decision following a review.
18. The Council said it had considered the application again alongside the medical evidence and information from its repair team.
19. The Council asked Ms Y to allow its team to carry out repairs to her property to address the damp and mould issues, but remained of the view that she does not qualify for prioritisation.
20. Ms Y is unhappy with the Council’s decision and referred her complaint to the Ombudsman’s office.

Analysis and findings

21. The Council has considered Ms Y’s application and her medical issues, as well as the disrepair issues against its allocations policy. It has advised her of its decision, and of her right to request a review.
22. Our role is not to ask whether the Council could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
23. 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 the Council 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 you disagree with the decision the Council made.
24. I have considered the steps the Council took to review Ms Y’s application, and the information it took account of when deciding whether Ms Y met the criteria for prioritisation. There is no fault in how it took the decision I therefore cannot question whether that decision was right or wrong.
25. In making its decision, the Council followed the appropriate procedures when making this decision and I cannot therefore criticise it.

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Final decision

26. Following my investigation, I find the Council is not at fault.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman