Summary: It is not appropriate to investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss X’s housing application further. This is because the Council accepted fault and offered a suitable remedy. Further investigation would not be proportionate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complained the Council, in refusing her access to the housing register, failed to consider her circumstances or consider exercising discretion.
2. Miss X says the Council’s actions affected 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 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

4. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Miss X's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments the Council provided.
5. Miss X and the organisation had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Council’s allocation scheme

6. Paragraph 3.2.9 covers the circumstances in which a person who has a mortgage can qualify for inclusion on the Council’s housing register. That includes:
• Where it is probable that occupying the property will lead to abuse from someone living in the property.
• Where it is probable that occupying the property will lead to abuse from someone who previously resided with the applicant whether in that property or elsewhere.

What happened

7. Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register. Miss X is named as a joint mortgage holder with her former partner. The Council disqualified Miss X from joining the housing register as she owned a property. Miss X appealed and the Council upheld the decision.
8. Miss X provided the Council with information about her circumstances. That included that she had been the subject of domestic abuse. The Council again upheld its decision to disqualify Miss X from the housing register as she was named on the mortgage for a property.

Remedy offered by the Council

9. The Council now accepts it should have taken into account that homeowners can qualify for inclusion on the housing register if remaining in the property could result in abuse or harm. The Council has now approved Miss X’s inclusion on the housing register in band B and backdated it to the date she first reported experiencing domestic abuse.
10. The Council has also written to those administering the housing register to reinforce the importance of recognising sensitivities around applicants who report domestic abuse and to ensure the relevant policy provisions are carefully considered and applied.
11. As the Council has now changed its decision and included Miss X on its housing register I see no reason to investigate the matter further.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint further because the Council has taken appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused by fault in the way it considered her housing register application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman