Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to reject her application to the housing register. She says it told her that she does not meet the financial requirements for a single applicant because her income exceeds the cap on earnings set out in its allocations policy. She disagrees with the Council’s calculation of her income and believes that she should qualify.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. 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. Miss X says her housing application was rejected by the council even though her salary is under the threshold which the Council applies to different sizes of households. The Council uses total net income based on a year’s bank statements and this includes any income rather than just payment from employment. It told Miss X that her income exceeds the threshold of £27,700 based on all her income.
6. Miss X disputes the calculation and she asked the Council to review its decision to reject her application. The review was carried out in July and it upheld the original decision.
7. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Miss X’s application was incorrectly assessed.
8. We may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application 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 investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman