Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his housing application. This is because the Council has apologised for any faults identified and taken corrective action. further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his housing application, stating unreasonable delays and inadequate responses to his complaints. While the Council acknowledged some delays as service failures, Mr X said it failed to provide a resolution and further failed to provide support to his family when they were at risk of becoming homeless. He also stated the Council wrongly awarded him Band B priority instead of Band A.
2. Mr X said these failings caused avoidable distress to him and his child. He wants the Council to:
• reassess his application with Band A priority;
• offer compensation;
• improve its complaints process with clear timelines; and
• address staffing shortages promptly.

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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 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X lives with his two children in a three-bedroom property. One child has special needs and an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and ideally needs a separate bedroom as a sensory room. Mr X also requires overnight carers due to a degenerative condition. In March 2023, he applied for a four- to five-bedroom property. The Council initially assessed his need as two bedrooms only. Mr X submitted a bedroom override form in May 2023 to appeal the decision but received no response, prompting his complaint to the Council in December.
8. The Council informed him his case would go to a panel review in January 2024. The Council’s HomeChoice Panel meeting initially considered the housing application in January 2024 but decided it did not have enough information so deferred the housing decision banding until April. The Council revised his housing need to four bedrooms and his banding increased to Band B for health and welfare reasons. In its complaint response, the Council apologised for the delays in handling his application and backdated his housing register date to May 2023. It confirmed it had not allocated any four-bedroom properties to someone with a higher banding or longer waiting time in the meantime. Therefore, although frustrating for Mr X, the delay has not caused him to miss out on bidding on any suitable accommodation. The Council has apologised, backdated the application and taken steps to address the cause of the delay in processing the application, further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.
9. Mr X also said the Council failed to support his family when they were threatened with homelessness. While the Council acknowledged the home was overcrowded and no longer suitable, it found the family's situation did not put them at risk of becoming homeless, as the accommodation was only lacking one bedroom. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made this decision to justify investigating.
10. Mr X was unhappy the Council only awarded him priority banding B and appealed the decision. The Council reviewed his banding at a second Panel meeting. The Council considered the information provided by Mr X, it but decided Mr X did not meet the criteria for band A. It made that decision in line with its HomeChoice Lettings Policy and Procedure. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision to justify investigating.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman