Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the waiting times for a Council property, and her concerns about the Council’s Choice Based Lettings scheme. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms X says she has been bidding unsuccessfully for Council housing for over four years. She is a band 3 applicant and says the average wait time for applicants in her band is 45 weeks.
2. She said the Council has not applied its Choice Lettings scheme fairly and explained that the long wait for housing has affected her health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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))
4. 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)
5. 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 (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. We do not usually investigate complaints that are late unless we decide there are good reasons to do so. Ms X complains that she has been bidding for council housing for over 4 years. I have decided to investigate her complaint because the matters she complains of are still ongoing. Furthermore, band 3 housing applicants are typically on the Council’s waiting list for a long time and therefore it would not have been reasonable to expect her to have complained to us while she was still in the early stages of the bidding process.
9. Ms X is a band 3 applicant. She says she has been bidding for housing under the Council’s Choice Lettings scheme for more than four years. Ms X believes the average waiting time for a band 3 applicant in her area is 45 weeks.
10. The Council agrees the average waiting time for a band 3 applicant on its housing register has been 329 days (roughly 47 weeks) over the last 12 months.
11. However, it also said the average waiting time figure can be misleading because it applies to all band 3 applicants and does not take other variables into account, such as the location, size or types of properties a band 3 applicant may bid for.
12. The Council took several of Ms X’s recent house bids and illustrated the number of bidders for each example, what her ranking was in the examples and how the properties were allocated to the successful bidders. The Council told Ms X what the waiting time was for each of those properties and how it differed from the average waiting time figure.
13. It also explained to Ms X that she typically bids for properties in high demand areas, which increases her waiting time on the register. The Council also pointed out to Ms X that housing demand far outstrips supply in its area, which means that applicants face a long waiting time on the register.
14. I have not seen enough evidence of fault with the way the Council handled Ms X’s concerns about the bidding process and subsequent wait times. The Council considered Ms X’s circumstances. It also explained why average times can be misleading and it used a few of Ms X’s bids as examples to illustrate why.
15. Ms X complains about the Council’s Choice Based Lettings scheme. She feels the Council has not applied the scheme in a way that is reflective of her own personal circumstances and hence why she has been bidding unsuccessfully for properties.
16. Although I acknowledge her concerns, I have not found enough evidence of fault with the way the Council handled Ms X concerns about its Lettings scheme. This is because the Council clearly explained how the scheme works and how it applies to Ms X’s own case.
17. It told Ms X that the Letting Scheme allows applicants to bid on properties that are then allocated according to eligibility, such as the number of bedrooms required, and according to priority (such as banding based on factors such as medical and family circumstances).
18. The Council also explained that it could not give Ms X an estimate of how long she may remain on its register because each applicant is allowed to bid for different properties in different areas.
19. I note it is also open to Ms X to submit further medical evidence to the Council and ask for a reassessment.

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Final decision

20. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman