The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to close the complainant’s housing application. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision to close his housing application. He has reapplied but has lost 13 years of waiting time. Mr X says he did not get the letters inviting him to reapply.
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 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 Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the letters the Council sent to Mr X about the renewal. I considered our Assessment Code and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.
My assessment
The allocations policy says people must renew their housing application every year. If they do not renew it the Council closes the application.
The Council wrote to Mr X in March 2021 asking him to renew his housing application. The Council used the correct address. The Council told Mr X it would close the application, and he would lose his waiting time, if he did not renew the application.
In April 2021 the Council wrote to Mr X to say it had closed his application because he had not renewed it. The Council used the correct address. The Council gave Mr X 21 days to appeal against the decision. The Council invited Mr X to make a new application but said it would not include the previous waiting time.
Mr X says he did not get the letters and did not know the Council had closed the application. He has since reapplied. In March 2022 he asked the Council to reinstate his waiting time. The Council said it would not reinstate the waiting time because he had not renewed his application in March 2021. The Council explained Mr X had successfully renewed his application in the past and was aware renewal is an annual requirement.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The policy says people must renew their application every year and the Council will close the application if it does not receive a renewal. Mr X did not renew his application, or ask for a review, so the Council correctly closed the application and Mr X lost his waiting time. I do not know why Mr X did not receive either of the letters but, as the Council used the correct address, there is nothing to suggest this was due to fault by the Council. We do not act as an appeal body and we cannot intervene simply because a council makes a decision that someone disagrees with.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman