The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s housing application. This is because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council has acted with malice and mis-handled his housing application since 2007. He says he can only bid for flats and no ground floor accommodation. He wants the Council to arrange for him to move to a council area of his choice. Mr X has accused the Council of racism.
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)) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complains about way the Council has handled his housing application since 2007. He is unhappy with the way it assessed his applications for medical priority in 2007, 2012 and 2020. He says the Council acts with malice and racism and will not let him apply for properties on the ground floor.
In August 2020 the Council assessed Mr X’s application for medical priority. It did not award priority. The Council said Mr X had 28 days to ask for a review. Mr X did not ask for a review. In 2021 and early 2022 the Council invited Mr X to submit a fresh application for medical priority. The Council told Mr X it had assessed his application in line with the policy and there was no suggestion of racism.
Mr X is on the housing register in band 2A due to overcrowding. He is registered for a four bedroom home. The Council told me there are no restrictions on the type of property Mr X can bid for. The Council says Mr X has not placed any bids since 2015.
I will not investigate this complaint because many aspects of it are late. The law says people should complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of a problem. For this reason we will not investigate matters since 2007. Mr X disagrees with the outcome of the 2020 medical assessment but he did not complain to us until 2022. I have not seen any good reason to accept a late complaint especially as the Council notified Mr X of his review rights and has since invited him to make a fresh application for medical priority.
I also will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council placed Mr X in band 2A because he is overcrowded and there are no restrictions on the type of property he can bid for or the floor level. I have checked the allocations policy and the banding reflects the policy. I have not seen anything to suggest the Council has acted with malice or out of racism. In addition, as Mr X has not placed any bids since 2015, he has no chance of being offered a home regardless of his priority. And, the policy does not allow for someone to choose which council area they would like to live in and for the Council to nominate the person to that council.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman