Summary: We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to allow her to join the housing register. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains the Council has wrongly refused her application to join the Council’s housing register. Miss B says there is a problem with the heating system at her housing association property which means the heaters do not warm up properly. Miss B says the housing association has told her to keep the heaters switched on at the socket but this uses a lot of electricity and she cannot afford to do this. Miss B says this issue is making her existing respiratory condition worse.

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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 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 Miss B and the Council’s housing allocations scheme.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Every local housing authority must publish an allocations scheme that sets out how it prioritises applicants, and its procedures for allocating housing. All allocations must be made in strict accordance with the published scheme. (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(1) & (14))
6. An allocations scheme must give reasonable preference to applicants in the following categories:

• homeless people;
• people in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing;
• people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds;
• people who need to move to avoid hardship to themselves or others;
  (Housing Act 1996, section 166A(3))

7. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme.
8. The Council’s housing allocations scheme allows for a person to join the housing register if they are living in a property which does not have adequate heating.
9. The Council contacted Miss B’s housing association which said it had visited her property three times in the winter and found the heating system was in full working order. The housing association said any issues were due to the way the system was being operated rather than a fault with the heating itself.
10. The Council was satisfied Miss B’s property has a functioning heating system. So, the Council decided Miss B did not qualify to join the Council’s housing register.
11. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this complaint. The Council has explained its decision and the information it used to decide the heating system is adequate. Miss B is concerned about the cost of using the heating system in the way advised by her housing association. But, affordability of accommodation is not a factor the Council is required to consider when deciding whether to accept a person onto the Council’s housing register. So, the Council was not at fault for not taking this into account.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman