The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision he no longer qualifies for its housing register. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained he was not able to place bids and was getting a message that there were no properties available that matched his housing requirements every week. He said he had been waiting for rehousing for several years and thought others may have been rehoused ahead of him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide: there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In June 2023, the Council reassessed Mr X’s housing application. It said that because one of his children, Y, had now reached age 21, Y would no longer be counted as part of the household. It explained this was in line with its allocations scheme and that the same principle had applied whether another child reached age 21. Since Y was not counted when deciding how many bedrooms the family needed, the Council said they had sufficient bedrooms for their needs, which meant Mr X no longer qualified for the housing register. It explained Mr X had the right to ask for a review of the decision within 21 days if he was unhappy with it.
We will not investigate this part of the complaint further because it was reasonable for Mr X to ask for a review. In any case, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement because the decision appears to be in line with the Council’s published allocations scheme.
In July 2023, Mr X complained he was unable to bid for housing on the Council’s housing register. At stage 1, the Council sent him a further copy of the June 2023 decision letter. At stage 2, the Council replied that there was a shortage of properties suitable for larger families in its area. It advised Mr X to consider private rented properties or moving outside the Borough. Whilst that advice was correct, the Council did not refer to Mr X no longer qualifying for the housing register, which was likely to be the reason he was unable to bid.
Although the stage 2 complaint response was incomplete, this did not cause Mr X a significant injustice because he had already been issued with the June 2023 on two occasions. For this reason, we will not consider the complaints handling further.
Mr X complained he had been waiting a long time for rehousing and he was worried others may have been given housing ahead of him. There is a national shortage of social housing and applicants do typically wait many years for rehousing, especially in London. All councils must allocate housing in line with their published allocations policy. Mr X has not provided any evidence to show the Council has not done this. We will not consider this complaint further because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable for him to ask the Council for a review of its decision that he no longer qualified for the housing register and there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman