Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. we will not consider events which took place more than 12 months before we received the complaint. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the current priority assessment which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application since 2022. She says the Council failed to process her initial application in 2022 with the specified 28 days in its allocations policy. She also says it delayed assessing her medical priority in early 2024 for longer than 28 days. She says her current banding is too low for her medical needs and that pest problems and repairs to her council home have not been resolved.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Miss X says the council took too long to process her housing application in 2022 and her medial assessment request which she made in February 2024. The Council accepted that the procedure took longer than 28 days and it offered her compensation of £470 for the delays in 2024.
8. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because the events took place outside the 12-month period for making a complaint to us. It was reasonable for Miss X to complain to us within 12 months of being aware that the 28-day processing times had been broken in 2022 and 2024.
9. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
10. We can consider the current assessment of Miss X’s housing application. She says that she has been in Band 2 since July 2024 but that she believes she should be in Band 1 because of her medical needs. The Council says that she is in the highest banding she can be awarded for her circumstances.
11. The Council’s allocations policy sets out which applicants can qualify for band 1. In terms of medical needs, the only medical grounds are if the applicant is currently in hospital and cannot be discharged because they have no suitable accommodation or require adapted accommodation. This does not apply to Miss X’s situation.
12. We 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. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Miss X should be placed in a higher banding.
13. The Council was considering if Miss X qualified for a management move when it replied to her complaint. We can only consider allocations under the terms of the allocations policy in accordance with the 1996 Housing Act. Discretionary moves by the social housing landlord are outside our jurisdiction.
14. Miss X also complained about pest infestations and outstanding repairs at her council rented home. These matters are outside our jurisdiction because they are tenancy management issues by a social housing landlord.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. we will not consider events which took place more than 12 months before we received the complaint. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the current priority assessment which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman