Amber Valley Borough Council (25 004 019)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision about Mrs X’s housing priority. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained the Council has not considered her housing priority correctly.
- Mrs X said the Council decided to marginally increase her priority banding despite the medical evidence she presented about her child. Mrs X said that she is concerned about her child’s wellbeing at her current home.
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 or continue 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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council considered Mrs X’s housing priority and decided that her banding would recognise medium medical needs for her child.
- When responding to Mrs X’s review requests, the Council confirmed that its banding decision was correct and in line with its housing allocations policy.
- The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.
- I have reviewed the Council’s housing allocations policy. Mrs X appears to be banded correctly for medium medical needs.
- The Ombudsman recognises the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone, if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman