Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council allowed the complainant to keep bidding for properties after it had made a provisional housing offer. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council allowed her to keep bidding for properties after it made a provisional offer, but would not then consider the subsequent bids. Mrs X says there has been a cover-up for which she wants compensation.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(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 Mrs X. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mrs X was living in a hostel and says the Council had accepted a homelessness relief duty to house her. Mrs X placed a successful bid for a flat; the Council made a provisional offer, subject to checks. Mrs X subsequently applied for two houses and was ranked in first and second place. Mrs X says a house would be more suitable for her needs.
5. Mrs X says the Council refused to consider the bids she made after she had applied for the flat. She says the Council threatened to end its housing assistance if she refused the flat and lied when an officer recorded that Mrs X had stated she wanted a house and garden, rather than a flat.
6. The Council completed the checks and offered the flat. The Council told Mrs X she could ask for a review if she thought the flat was unsuitable. Mrs X moved into the flat.
7. Mrs X complains the Council should not have allowed her to submit further bids. She says the Council should have allowed to swap the flat for a house. In response, the Council said it had followed its processes correctly and explained why it allows people to bid while it is considering a provisional offer. It apologised for a missed appointment and said the case notes reflected the officer’s understanding of what they thought Mrs X had said regarding preferences. It explained officers are required to highlight the consequences of refusing an offer.
8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice. The allocations policy says people cannot be considered for more than one property at a time. The Council was considering the provisional offer so could not consider the bids for the houses. The Council explained it allows people to continue to bid to avoid delays in case a provisional offer is not confirmed. Mrs X says the Council should not have accepted further bids but, if that had been the case, she would be in the same position as now.
9. The law says a council may end the relief or main housing duty if someone declines an accommodation offer. I appreciate Mrs X may have found the warnings to be threatening but it was not wrong for officers to warn her of the potential consequences of declining the flat.
10. Mrs X has highlighted a missed appointment and case notes which, in her opinion, contain a lie. I acknowledge these are important issues for Mrs X but the Council has apologised for the missed appointment and explained why it does not regard the notes as slanderous. These are not issues which require an investigation.
11. Mrs X would have preferred a house and I can understand why she thinks the Council should have swapped the flat for the house. However, I have not identified any fault in the way the Council assessed the the bids so there is no reason to start an investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman