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 considering her for unsuitable offers of accommodation for her situation on the housing register. She says that her application was closed following refusal of an unsuitable offer and that her preferences for particular accommodation or areas is not being met.

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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 information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses. 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 the Council has not offered her any suitable accommodation even though she has been given band A priority on her housing application. She says her application was closed because she refused an offer of a bungalow which she rejected because of its location and condition. She says she does not wish to be moved to a council estate or be housed in certain areas or in ground floor accommodation. She also says she wants to be housed in housing association accommodation, preferably new-build.
6. The Council says that it has not deferred or closed her application. Even though its allocations policy allows it to do so if a reasonable offer is refused it has used its discretion to allow her to remain on the register. However, it says that it cannot refer her to a housing association because the system does not allow this.
7. Housing associations notify the Council of vacancies arising and when they do so the Council puts forward applicants for this type of property. The Council told Miss X that whilst it will note her preferences, the allocations policy requires applicants to be prepared to accept any vacancy within the borough and with any registered social housing provider. If applicants choose to restrict their bidding to limited areas and types of accommodation it could be a very long time before they receive an offer.
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. 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. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Miss X has been treated differently to any other applicant in similar circumstances.

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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