Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decisions on a homelessness application. It was reasonable for Miss X to seek a review of the Council’s accommodation offer and its decision to end the homelessness duty.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council making an offer of accommodation in the private sector which she says was unsuitable due to its location and affordability issues. She wants the Council to offer her suitable accommodation and to clear her current rent arrears so that she can support a new tenancy.

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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 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X says the Council has failed to offer her suitable accommodation following her homeless application. She is currently living in shared accommodation provided when she was 18 but now has a child and this is no longer suitable. The Council offered her a private rented tenancy but she says this was too far away and that she could not afford the rental because she has rent arrears outstanding at her current address.
6. The Council advised Miss X to accept the offer and submit a review of suitability request under s.202 of the Housing Act 1996 Part 7 provisions. She did not do this and the Council subsequently ended its homelessness Relief duty. It advised her that she could also request a review of this decision but she did not do so.
7. The Ombudsman cannot change a council’s decision on a homelessness application and we would expect someone to use the review and appeal procedure which is their right under the Housing Act 1996. In this case the Council advised Miss X to accept the offer and challenge it later but she chose not to do so.
8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decisions on a homelessness application. It was reasonable for Miss X to seek a review of the Council’s accommodation offer and its decision to end the homelessness duty.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman