Birmingham City Council (25 000 757)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Apr 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful application to join the housing register because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mrs X, complains about the Council’s decision to close her housing application as incomplete.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. This includes the application and copies of the evidence Mrs X submitted. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X applied to join the housing register. The application form lists the supporting evidence applicants must supply. This includes financial information (proof of income and bank statements etc) for the three months prior to applying. The Council closed the application because it decided Mrs X had not provided all the required supporting evidence. The Council sent a letter closing the application and inviting her to supply the outstanding information.
- I considered the evidence Mrs X submitted and, while she provided lots of evidence, which was mainly related to medical issues, there is nothing to suggest she met the requirements in terms of providing the financial evidence. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault regarding the Council’s decision to close the application.
- Mrs X can reapply to the Council once she has supplied all the required evidence.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman