Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome because the complainant is awaiting a fresh review of their application.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s assessment of her medical circumstances for her housing application. she believes that she should have been given a higher priority banding and after asking for a further review she did not receive an outcome and complained to us.

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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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(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 the complainant and the Council’s responses.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X says the Council delayed in issuing a review of her housing application from when she requested it in September and it had not been completed when she complained to us in February 2025. She also made a formal complaint to the Council and it accepted that there had bene delay and offered her £550 as compensation for the delay.
6. Since she complained to us the Council issued a new decision on her application in April. Miss X took legal advice and threatened the Council with judicial review proceedings. As a result, the Council withdrew the review decision and told her it would carry out a new review. Because these matters took place after the complaint to us and had not yet been decided we cannot consider them in this complaint decision.
7. It is clear that there was delay of at least 5 months from when the original review should have been completed. However, the review decision has since been withdrawn and we did not know what the outcome was of any new assessment. If the assessment leaves the priority unchanged then the delay will not have left Miss X in any different position than she was when she complained to us.
8. We would only recommend compensation for delay if the delay caused injustice which in this case would have to be if she should have been given higher priority earlier and this has resulted in her missing a vacancy which she would have been eligible for. This is not something which we can determine in this complaint decision and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome based on the information we have.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome because the complainant is awaiting a fresh review of their application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman