Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s housing register decision because its decision was in line with its published allocations scheme and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s decision she did not qualify to join its housing register because she had not satisfied its local connection criteria. She said the Council had failed to properly consider her need to move closer to a relative for support. She said its failure to do so meant she was living without the support she needs, which has affected her mental health.

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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 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 Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

5. Ms X applied to join the Council’s housing register. She said she needed to live closer to a relative for support with her mental health. She provided a supporting letter from her G.P, which confirmed her mental health difficulties.
6. The Council decided Ms X did not qualify to join its housing register because she did not meet its local connection criteria. This was because she had not lived in its area for the required time and she could not meet the criteria based on her relative living there, because they were not one of those listed in its scheme (parents, siblings or adult children) and they had not lived in its area for 5 years.
7. Ms X asked for a review, providing further information about her mental health history and need for support from her relative. She said her mental health had deteriorated significantly after her relative moved to this Council’s area.
8. The Council carried out a review and upheld the original decision. It acknowledged the difficulties Ms X was facing but said it must prioritise those who met its local connection criteria in line with its allocations scheme. It suggested she may want to consider a mutual exchange or that it could consider assisting her to secure private rented accommodation in its area.
9. In response to my enquiries, the Council explained Ms X was not homeless, and there was no clear evidence to show the amount of support she needed would justify deciding her case was so exceptional its usual criteria should not apply.

My assessment

10. We are not an appeal body. It is not our role to say whether the Council’s decisions were correct. We can consider the decision-making process but, unless there was fault in that process, we cannot comment on the decisions reached. Councils have wide powers when designing their allocations schemes, but the law says all councils must allocate social housing in line with their published scheme.
11. The Council considered the information Ms X provided and its allocations scheme at both decision points. It explained its reasons for deciding Ms X had not met its local connection criteria and suggested other ways she could secure housing in its area. There was no undue delay in its decision-making, and the decisions were in line with its published scheme.
12. Whilst it did not set out in detail in its review decision why it did not consider her case was so exceptional that the local connection criteria should not apply, its response to us shows it has considered all relevant factors and that, in the absence of new evidence, further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
13. For these reasons, we will not consider the complaint further.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman