Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of her housing register priority. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council delayed in responding for her request for a review of her housing application. Mrs X stated that she has difficulty accessing her accommodation due to her medical conditions. Mrs X would like the Council to increase her priority band on the housing register.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X said the Council delayed in reviewing her housing application, and did not give her housing application the correct priority based on the medical evidence she provided.
6. The Council originally assessed Mrs X’s housing application and awarded her a priority Band 5. Mrs X requested a review of her case in September 2024. The Council carried out the review and informed Mrs X of its decision in January 2025.
7. The Council reviewed Mrs X’s medical evidence and decided to increase her priority band from Band 5 to Band 3. It backdated the banding to apply from September 2024 when Mrs X requested the review.
8. We may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application or a housing applicant’s priority if the Council has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. The Council properly considered the medical evidence provided and made a decision to increase Mrs X’s priority to Band 3, in line with its Allocation policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Mrs X should be placed in a higher banding.
9. Mrs X later complained to the Council about its decision to not award a higher banding. The Council did not uphold her complaint, but invited Mrs X to ask for a further review if her circumstances had changed or she had new medical evidence. In response to my enquiries, the Council confirmed that it had not received a further review request from Mrs X.
10. The Council apologised for the delay in conducting the review of Mrs X’s housing application. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because further investigation of this matter would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman