The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision she is not eligible to join its Housing Register because there is insufficient evidence of fault in its decision-making process to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council initially awarded 150 medical points on her housing register application but, on review, decided she was not eligible to join its housing register. Ms X says this means she remains in unsuitable housing, which cannot be adapted to meet her disability needs. She wants her application reinstating.
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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
What happened Ms X made a housing register application. The Council accepted the application and awarded 150 medical points. Ms X asked it to review its decision in March 2025. In April 2025, the Council’s revised allocation scheme came into effect. In June 2025, the Council reviewed the application. It said she was not eligible to join its housing register because she had not satisfied its residency criteria.
My assessment
We are not an appeal body. It is not our role to say whether the Council’s decision is correct or tell the Council what decision it should make. Unless there is fault in the decision-making process, we cannot comment on the decision reached. By law, councils must allocate social housing in line with their published allocations scheme.
The Council’s review decision shows it considered the comments made in the review request and the information it held about the application. It applied the version of the allocations scheme in effect at the time it made the review decision. Its decision that Ms X did not meet the residency criteria was in line with that scheme. It made its decision without undue delay and explained its reasons, including setting out Ms X’s address history. Ms X has not argued the address history given was incorrect. In light of these factors, there is insufficient evidence of fault in the decision-making process to justify investigating further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman