Summary: We have upheld Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his request for a review of its decision to refuse his housing register application. The Council has agreed to carry out the review it should have completed in September 2025, treating the review request as made in time. This is a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council closed his housing application without a valid reason. He says he was homeless and living in his van at the time. As a result, he suffered distress and was left without a realistic way of securing accommodation. He wants the Council to

• reopen his application;
• properly review its decision;
• explain the reasons for its decisions; and,
• reinstate his eligibility to bid for housing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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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. Mr X complains the Council wrongly refused his housing register application and failed to properly deal with his request for a review of that decision.
6. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault because it accepted it received Mr X's review request in September 2025 but failed to process it correctly. The Council later incorrectly decided the review request was out of time. As a result, Mr X did not receive the review he was entitled to and was denied the opportunity to challenge the decision refusing his housing register application.
7. I have not considered whether Mr X missed out on housing opportunities as a result of the Council's actions. The Council has not yet completed the review Mr X requested. Until that review is carried out, it is not possible to determine whether Mr X should have been accepted onto the housing register or whether he suffered any additional injustice.
8. We therefore asked to the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by taking the following action to resolve the complaint early.

• completing a review of Mr X’s housing register application decision, treating his review request dated 12 September 2025 as made in time, and providing him with a written review decision within four weeks;
• backdating Mr X’s registration date if the review concludes he should have been accepted onto the housing register; and
• considering whether Mr X missed out on any housing opportunities because the review was not carried out when requested and, if so, considering an appropriate further remedy.

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Actions Agreed

9. To its credit, the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early and will complete the actions at paragraph 8 within four weeks, to put things right.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint because the Council was at fault for not reviewing its decision when requested. It has agreed to resolve this complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman