London Borough of Ealing (25 009 076)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s application of its housing allocation policy to Mr X’s case. This is because most of the complaint has been previously considered and the remaining elements are undergoing the Council’s appeal process.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about various issues relating to the Council’s decision to remove him and his family from its housing register waiting list.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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:
- it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal;
- there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We previously considered most of Mr X’s complaint elements under complaint reference 24 016 810. This covers Mr X’s various concerns about his housing register application going back to 2010. We found there were no good reason to investigate late complaints. And, that we were unlikely to find fault or achieve a worthwhile outcome on the other issues.
- However, we asked Mr X to go back to the Council with respect to one part of his complaint. We have recently checked with the Council, and it has informed us that there is an appeal consideration pending. Therefore, it is too early for us to look at this issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because most of this complaint has been previously considered and the remaining matter has not completed the Council’s appeal process.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman