The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the housing register because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council removed him from the housing register and did not tell him. He also complains the Council has not housed him despite being on the register for 12 years.
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, or any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence and the new lettings policy. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
The Council introduced a new lettings policy in October 2021. The new policy says people are only eligible for the housing register due to overcrowding if they lack at least two bedrooms.
Mr X lives in a two bedroom flat with his wife, two daughters and a son. He needs a three bedroom home which means he lacks one bedroom.
Mr X had been on the housing register for 12 years. He complained to us in 2017 about his priority on the register. We did not find any fault by the Council.
The Council wrote to Mr X in December 2021 to say he could no longer bid for properties because, under the new policy, he is not eligible to remain on the housing register. Mr X says he did not receive this letter and only found out when he called the Council. In response the Council explained why it had changed the policy and that it is correct he no longer qualifies. It said it had notified him of the change.
I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Mr X lacks one bedroom and the Council’s decision that he is no longer eligible to bid correctly reflects the new policy. This is because he would need to lack two bedrooms to remain the register. The decision reflects the policy so there is no reason to start an investigation. The fact that Mr X was not housed while on the register does not mean the Council did anything wrong. It simply reflects the shortage of housing and that Mr X was in a relatively low band on the register. This meant there were many more applicants who had more housing priority than Mr X.
I do not know why Mr X did not receive the letter notifying him that he can no longer bid but this has not caused an injustice requiring an investigation. Mr X now knows he cannot bid and, if he had received the letter in December, he would still be in the same position.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman