The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s application for some properties. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because we cannot investigate the actions of Housing Associations.
The complaint
The complainant, Mr X, complains about the Council’s decision not to allocate a property to him. He wants one of the properties he applied for.
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 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)) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of Housing Associations. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), 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 applied for some properties via the housing register. Eligibility was based on local connection rules which were specific to the area in which the properties are based. The Housing Association, which owns the properties, assessed the application and decided Mr X does not meet the local connection rules.
Mr X disagrees and says he does qualify. He also says the Housing Association made errors in the way it advertised the properties in relation to whether they are level access.
In response to his complaint the Council explained why the properties have the local connection rules and said it must allocate properties in accordance with those rules.
I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons.
The Council manages the allocations policy; it was required to set the local connection rules for these properties because the rules are part of the planning consent for the housing development. For this reason there is no suggestion of fault by the Council.
Mr X says the Housing Association has not correctly assessed the information he provided about how, in his view, he meets the local connection rules. He has also raised points about the way the Housing Association advertised the properties. I have no power to investigate Housing Associations so I cannot start an investigation about these issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because we cannot investigate the actions of Housing Associations.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman