Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss X’s housing application. Miss X should await the Council’s decision as it is currently reviewing information about her most recent housing application. The Ombudsman could not achieve significantly more by becoming involved at the moment.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has not properly dealt with her application for housing. She says this has caused stress, inconvenience, and tension with family members who are living in overcrowded conditions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or it would be reasonable for the person to await a review or appeal decision from the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. In December 2021 the Council refused Miss X’s housing application, saying she did not have a local connection. Miss X asked the Council to review that decision, arguing she only lacked a local connection because she had previously left Birmingham due to domestic abuse. However, before the Council reviewed the decision, Miss X made a new housing application as her circumstances had changed (she had moved house). The Council therefore decided it would no longer be relevant to review its first decision as that related to outdated circumstances and it would instead consider the new application. I see no fault in that.
7. On 11 March 2022 the Council refused Miss X’s new application, again saying she did not have a local connection. The refusal letter told Miss X she could ask the Council for a review. I understand Miss X then provided more information. The Council told me it is currently reviewing the application.
8. We cannot overturn the Council’s decision or tell it what to decide about Miss X’s circumstances. We can only consider how the Council reached its decision. Here, the Council has not yet made a final decision about whether Miss X should be on its housing register. So the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve anything significant by becoming involved at this stage. It is appropriate for Miss X to await the Council’s decision once the Council reviews the circumstances.
9. Miss X is concerned at the time taken. In the absence of a decision about whether Miss X qualifies for the housing register, it is not clear whether any fault in the timescale disadvantaged Miss X significantly in itself.
10. Once the Council decides the matter and any review process is complete, Miss X can complain to the Ombudsman if she believes there was fault in the Council’s decision-making and/or the timescale. If Miss X does not receive a decision from the Council within a reasonable period (say a couple of months), she can also come back to us.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because currently there is not enough evidence to decide if there has been fault causing injustice on the central point of how the Council decides whether Miss X should be on the housing register. So the Ombudsman could not achieve anything meaningful by becoming involved at this stage.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman