The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s priority date on her housing application. This is because the problem has been resolved.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X complains the Council has registered her housing application from May 2022 even though she applied in November 2020. Ms X wants the Council to backdate the application.
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 the problem has been resolved. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes a letter from the Council backdating the application to January 2021. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X applied to join the housing register in November 2020 when she was pregnant. I have not seen any evidence the Council processed the application.
Ms X gave birth in December and rang the Council in January about her application. Ms X says she was repeatedly told to wait and that her application would be processed and backdated.
In May 2022 Ms X submitted a form and provided her child’s details. The Council accepted the housing application from May. Ms X complained and said the application should start from late 2020.
The Council initially refused to backdate the application. It said the application in November would have been refused because, before she had the child, Ms X had no housing need. The Council said the correct date is May 2022 because that is when she demonstrated she had a housing need and there was no record of an earlier contact.
But, since then, the Council has accepted Ms X contacted the Council in January 2021 and it has backdated the application to that date.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has backdated Ms X’s housing application and the problem has been resolved.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman