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. Mr X complained about the Council’s refusal to allow his father to be part of his housing application. He says his father has a doctor’s letter stating he requires 24-hour care by relatives and that it should re-consider its decision on his case.

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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 the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s review of the application. 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. Mr X says the Council ignored medical evidence which he submitted to support his father being added to his housing application. He says that he is father has a letter from a GP which states he requires full-time care from his relatives which is why he needs to be added to the application.
6. The Council told Mr X that his father was not eligible to be included in his application because he is already living independently and has no current formal care plan or visiting carers. Mr X asked the Council to review his application under s.166A of the Housing Act 1996.
7. The Council carried out a review and considered all the evidence which Mr X had provided, together with a medical housing assessment of his father from its independent housing assessors. The Council concluded that Mr X’s father was currently living independently without a formal care plan and that he could apply for housing in his own right as he is a separate household. He was advised that is father should approach adult social services if he requires a care assessment of his current housing situation and that he could apply for sheltered housing if he believes he needs more supported accommodation. The Council’s allocation policy does not normally allow family members from a different household to be included on another member’s application.
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. In this case the review was comprehensive and it consider Mr X’s housing situation, his father’s medical condition and his father’s housing needs. We 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.

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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