Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s housing priority band and the time taken by the Council to offer her permanent accommodation. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council:

• Placed her in the incorrect housing priority band.
• Failed to make an offer of permanent accommodation for her and her family despite them being on the housing register for a significant number of years.

2. Ms X considers that as a result she and her family have lived in temporary accommodation for longer than necessary which has caused distress to them.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

8. Ms X applied for the Council’s housing register a number of years ago. She also made a homelessness application some years ago. The Council accepted it had a duty to accommodate Ms X and her family and provided temporary accommodation. Ms X and her family have lived in their current temporary accommodation for several years.
9. We will not consider events before June 2024 as these matters are late. It was open to Ms X to make a complaint sooner so there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider earlier events.
10. In 2025, Ms X made a complaint to the Council that it had not offered permanent accommodation to her and her family. The Council considered the complaint through its two stage complaints process. It explained that:

• It had correctly placed Ms X in priority band four which is the band for applicants to whom the Council has accepted the main housing duty and who are adequately housed in long term temporary accommodation. The Council said that it would reassess Ms X’s priority if she reported a change of circumstances.
• A few years ago, it offered to give Ms X priority for private rented accommodation which she declined. But it could not discharge its duty to accommodate Ms X by making an offer of private rented accommodation as it accepted the duty prior to the changes made by the Localism Act.
• Applicants who joined the housing register after Ms X may be offered a property before her if they were in a higher priority band.
• The Council had not been able to make an offer of permanent accommodation to Ms X. This was due to the demand for social housing and for the size of property required by Ms X and her family

11. 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. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation into how the Council considered Ms X’s priority band. The Council’s decision to place her in band four is in accordance with its allocations scheme.
12. We are mindful that Ms X has been on the housing register for a significant number of years. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. We 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. Ms X considers the Council is wrongly offering properties to applicants who have been on the housing register for less time than she has. But applicants who are in higher priority bands will be offered properties before Ms X as they have greater priority for them. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation of Ms X’s complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman