Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council considered her housing application. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council mishandled her housing application and did not process her complaint about the matter properly. She said the Council’s actions have left her and her child in unsuitable and unsafe accommodation which has caused her significant stress. She wanted the Council to reinstate her housing application with appropriate banding to reflect her medical and safeguarding needs. She also wanted her complaint to be reviewed, an apology and compensation.

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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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register in 2024.
6. The Council wrote to Miss X in January 2025 and told her she was not eligible to join the housing register. This was because she did not have a recognised housing need under its housing allocations policy, and she had housing related debt.
7. Miss X asked for a review of the Council’s decision. The Council said it wrote to Miss X in February 2025 and asked her to provide supporting documentation. The Council wrote to Miss X in March 2024 to tell her it had closed her review because they had not received the requested documents.
8. Miss X complained to the Council in April 2025 that her review request had been closed. In its complaint response, the Council told Miss X that she could submit her documents to them by the end of May 2025. The Council also asked Miss X to let them know if she could not provide the information. Miss X did not provide the requested information. The Council advised Miss X to contact them if her circumstances changed.
9. 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 decision reached. Councils have wide powers to design their allocation schemes to meet local needs, but the law says all councils must allocate social housing in line with their published allocations scheme.
10. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The Council considered the information Miss X provided and its allocation scheme. It explained that Miss X was not eligible to join the housing register. It invited Miss X to provide supporting documentation for a review of its decision, and extended the deadline to provide this information.
11. Miss X also complained about how the Council responded to her complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman