The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant cannot join the housing register. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, disagrees with the Council’s decision that he cannot join the housing register.
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 by Mr X and the Council. This includes Mr X’s housing application and the Council’s decision. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s allocation policy says people cannot join the housing register if they have current or former rent arrears. This includes arrears for former homes.
Mr X applied to join the housing register. The Council rejected the application because Mr X has outstanding rent arrears for the period 2010 to 2017. Mr X owes £2175 which is a combination of rent arrears and court costs. Mr X has been evicted from properties due to rent arrears. The Council says Mr X has not made any payments towards the arrears.
Mr X disagrees with the decision. He says he gets a set amount of money to live on and it is for him to decide how to spend it.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council’s decision to decline the housing application is consistent with the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. We are not 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