The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says she should be re-housed as a priority due to her medical needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says the Council should rehouse her closer to her family as a priority because she is a pensioner with physical and mental disabilities and that a move closer to her family will make it easier for them to provide her with emotional support. She also says her current property has a problem with mould.
The Council advised Mrs X to contact the housing team about her problem with mould. It considered her request for priority re-housing on medical grounds but concluded that her current property was adapted to meet her needs and that her wish to be closer to her family for emotional support did not meet the criteria for priority rehousing under the Council’s allocations policy. The Council did however award Mrs X with Medical Approval, which allows her to bid on adapted properties.
I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because I have seen no evidence of fault in how the Council considered her application. We cannot uphold a complaint if the council has followed proper procedures, relevant legislation and guidance and taken account of all the information provided, even if the applicant believes that the council should have given more priority to the application to move.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman