Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his housing application. It was reasonable for him to ask for a review of the Council’s decision about his priority band. There is not enough evidence of injustice from delay making the decision to justify further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his application for social housing. He says the Council took too long to make its decision. He says its decision to award Band C failed to take into account all his medical and housing circumstances.
2. As a result, Mr X says he was delayed in being able to bid for properties and is in the wrong priority band.

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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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council says it aims to assess all applications within eight to ten weeks. It took 15 weeks to assess Mr X’s application. The Council has already apologised to Mr X for this.
7. We will not investigate this complaint. When the Council decided Mr X’s priority, the relevant date is the date of his application not the date of the Council’s decision. This means Mr X’s position in the queue was not affected by the delay. It is highly unlikely Mr X missed out on an offer of a property in the period. There is therefore not enough evidence of injustice to justify investigating.
8. The Council awarded Band C priority. Mr X says this should be higher. The Council’s decision told Mr X about his right to ask for a review. Mr X did not ask for a review. It was reasonable for him to do so and so we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of injustice and it was reasonable for Mr X to ask the Council for a review of its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman