Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Mrs 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. Mrs X said the Council did not correctly apply its policy when considering her housing register application.
2. Mrs X said her home is impacting on the health of her children and the matters also caused her family stress.

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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. Mrs X applied to join the housing register in July 2025. Mrs X said there is overcrowding in her current property and said her family needed to be in the Council borough to be closer to medical services her family require.
8. Also in July 2025, the Council awarded Mrs X band 5 on the housing register. It said Mrs X did not meet its local connection criteria but said she was owed reasonable preference.
9. Mrs X asked the Council to review this decision and provided additional information about her family’s medical needs.
10. In August 2025 the Council reviewed its July 2025 decision and overturned it. It awarded Mrs X band 4 on the housing register. The Council acknowledged Mrs X’s medical information but said this did not warrant a higher banding. It provided evidence it had considered her request under its special circumstances provision but did not believe it applied in her case. It gave reasons for this.
11. We are not an appeal body, and we cannot overturn the Council’s decision. 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.
12. The evidence at hand suggests that we would be unlikely to find fault by the Council and therefore we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman