Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says that she is on Band C but that she should have higher priority because of various problems with her current situation. She says she has neighbour problems, fear of her former partner, and there is disrepair in her Council home and she has been rejected for a management transfer.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• 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. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X says she has been in her home since 2023 and that she needs to move urgently due to neighbour problems and anti-social behaviour. She is currently in Band C and says she needs a higher banding priority or a management transfer to move quickly. She says that the council did not take action over her neighbour complaints or concerns about a former partner until she used the community trigger to have a panel hearing of her case chaired by the Police. She also says there is disrepair in her Council home and an alleyway at the back of her home has accumulated rubbish.
7. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by council landlords. This includes issues about disrepair, estate management and tenancy disputes. This also includes discretionary management transfers and mutual exchanges which are outside the1996 Housing Act allocations procedure.
8. The Council told Ms X that she is in the correct banding following a review because she has moderate medical and social needs. It does not use Band A or B for the issues which she is complaining about as these are reserved for urgent medical cases or life-threatening circumstances. It considered Ms X’s request for a discretionary management transfer but told her there was not sufficient police evidence that she was seriously affected by any anti-social behaviour.
9. Ms X used the community trigger process to have a multi-agency panel hearing consider her request for a transfer. This has yet to make a decision and will be chaired by the police as lead authority. This is related to the threat which her former partner may present when he is released from custody at some time in the future. It may decide there is good reason to reconsider a management transfer, make other recommendations or dismiss the case. We have no involvement in this procedure.
10. We can only consider the Council’s assessment of the application under the 1996 Housing Act allocations process and although she has had a review by the Council it says she is correctly banded according to the housing allocations policy.
11. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application/ a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman