Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council changing its housing allocations policy which Mr X says has affected his housing application priority. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council changed its housing allocations policy criteria in March 2025 and this has affected him as an applicant living outside the borough area. He says the Council should ensure his application is given its previous status.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses. 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 changed his housing application priority when it introduced a new allocations policy in March. He does not live within the Council’s borough area but his priority was reduced when it removed the working household enhancement status from applications which he had previously qualified for.
6. The changes to the policy were subject to media consultation and in documents on the Council’s website and tenancy sites. The policy was approved by a Council committee in November 2024 and introduced in March.
7. The Council told Mr X that it initially awarded Band 9 priority to his application but this was quickly changed to Band 10 because he does not have 10 years residency within the borough. The initial error did not cause any injustice to Mr X as he did not receive any offers or make any successful bids within this period.
8. We cannot determine whether a policy introduced following a committee change is unlawful, only the courts can do this. The Localism Act 2011 gave councils powers to introduce and revise housing allocations schemes, including introducing residency requirements within these policies.
9. 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

10. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council changing its housing allocations policy which Mr X says has affected his housing application priority. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman