Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application since 2003. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. There is insufficient evidence of any fault in the current assessment of his housing application which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his housing application since 2003. He says his application was removed from the system in 2015 without his knowledge and that his current application should take into account his previous time on the waiting list.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr x says he applied to the Council’s housing register in 2003. This application was cancelled when the required documents were not provided. Mr X re-applied in 2011 and this application was ended when the allocations policy changed in 2014. Mr X says he was unaware of these changes in the past and that his previous time on the register should be included in his current assessment. The Council says he was informed in writing at the time and only his most recent application from 2017 applies.
7. We will not investigate the events before the past 12 months which is when Mr X made a complaint to the Council about his current application. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. It was reasonable for him to complain to the Council, ask for a review of his application or to complain to us in the previous years.
8. Mr X is currently in band 3 under his current application but the Council has advised that he could submit evidence for a medical assessment if he believes he should have higher priority on health grounds. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application or 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

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application since 2003. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. There is insufficient evidence of any fault in the current assessment of his housing application which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman