Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to reject Miss X’s application to join the housing register. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council rejected her application to join the housing register and did not tell her about its decision.
2. Miss X said the matters worsened her mental 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. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X applied to join the housing register in June 2023.
8. The Council said it notified Miss X via email in March 2024 that her application was unsuccessful. The Council rejected the application because it said Miss X did not meet its local connection criteria.
9. Miss X she did not receive this notice from the Council and only became aware when she accessed the Council’s housing system in August 2025.
10. Miss X complained to the Council about this. The Council would not accept Miss X’s complaint but told her she could ask for a late review of its decision. Miss X went on to submit a review request.
11. The Council reviewed its decision and upheld its original decision, not to allow Miss X to join it’s housing register.
12. We are not an appeal body, and we cannot either overturn the Council’s decision or replace its decision with ours, in so far as deciding whether Miss X is eligible to join the register. We look at how the Council made its decision and whether there was any flaw in that decision-making. If there was no fault in the Council’s decision-making, we cannot question it.
13. The evidence at hand suggests the Council acted appropriately and in line with the published allocations policy, when it made the original decision. And it has now carried out a late review of the 2024 decision. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement and therefore we will not investigate.
14. The Council told Miss X she may now be eligible to join the housing register, based upon her current circumstances, which are different from her initial application. It is now open to Miss X to decide if she wants to reapply.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman