Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to rehouse him. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X lives in a one-bedroom property with his wife and adult child. The Council has awarded him Band C priority due to overcrowding.
2. Mr X complains the Council is taking too long to re-house his household despite being on the Council’s housing register for ten years. Mr X says hundreds of other applicants in Band C have successfully bid on two-bedroom properties during this time, with some successful applicants having shorter wait times. He says he has placed almost 100 bids on suitable properties, but the Council has failed to allocate any of them. Mr X complains the Council has overlooked his application.
3. Mr X complains, in 2012, the Council incorrectly removed him from its housing register. He said he had to re-apply in 2016 when he became aware of this. He says, in 2025, the Council backdated his registration date to August 2012.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. 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, 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

7. I considered information provided by the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Mr X says, despite bidding on multiple properties, he has not yet been successful. In its complaint response, the Council advised him that there were far more people looking for two-bedroom houses than there were properties available to let. This meant that people were having to wait longer than the Council would like to secure a property. It advised Mr X to consider alternatives such private rented accommodation.
10. Although Mr X has not yet been offered a larger property, this is likely due to high demand for social housing and the availability of properties, rather than any administrative fault. The Council has explained Mr X has not yet been successful due to a high demand for social housing combined with a difficulty securing accommodation in a lower banding like Band C. The demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. But this is outside the Council’s control. The law says councils must allocate social housing in line with their published allocations scheme. The Council reviewed the five specific allocations Mr X complained about. It provided clear reasons why Mr X was not eligible for these properties and so could allocate these properties to applicants who did qualify with shorter wait times. Although I accept Mr X’s housing situation is causing him distress, we could not ask the Council to offer him a property outside the normal bidding process.
11. The Council accepted Mr X’s housing register application and awarded Band C, which is a medium priority band that recognises his need for rehousing. Based on the information available, that decision was in line with its published scheme because he is lacking one bedroom. Mr X has not specifically complained about the priority band awarded. But, he would have had the right to ask for a review of that decision if he disagreed with it and its was reasonable for him to do so.
12. Based on the above, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify our involvement. So, we will not investigate.
13. Mr X complains the Council wrongly removed him from its housing register in 2012. This complaint is late. This also applies to his complaint the Council incorrectly awarding him a registration date of 2016 when he reapplied in 2016 and again in 2024. I have seen no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider these matters now. In any event, Mr X had the right to request a review by the Council if he wished to challenge the Council’s decisions. It is reasonable to have expected him to have used these rights. For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to rehouse him. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman