Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council did not properly assess her housing application. She is unhappy the Council included benefits when calculating her household income and says it has not considered expenditure. Ms X says this means she has to remain in overcrowded housing and wasted time bidding for properties. Ms X would like the Council to change the way it carries out financial assessments.

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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 Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X applied for housing. The Council told her she was not eligible because her household income was too high. When making this decision the Council considered its allocations policy, Ms X’s housing application and her financial information. The Council explained why it had included benefits when calculating household income. It also told Ms X that the calculation was based on gross income. This means income before any expended are deducted.
6. The Ombudsman cannot question whether a Council’s decision is right or wrong simply because a complainant disagrees with it, unless there is evidence of fault. Here, the Council took Ms X’s individual circumstances into account and made a decision that was in line with its process. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Ms 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