The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained about the Council’s assessment of her housing application. She says she is overcrowded and needs a separate bedroom for her son who has medical needs. The Council has placed her in Band 2 but she says this limits her to bidding on 4-bedroom properties which are in high demand and only occur infrequently as vacancies.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says her current 2-bedroom home is too small for the needs of her family. She applied for rehousing in 2020 and she says she needs a 3-bedroomed home but the Council’s assessment is that she requires a 4-bedroom due to her family size.
Miss X is currently in the Council’s Band 2 priority under its allocations policy. It accepts that her son needs a separate bedroom because of a condition he has and it says this would make her eligible for a 3-bedroom home. However, since she applied her daughter has reached an age when she can no longer share a bedroom with her brothers and so her needs are now only suitable for 4-bedroom vacancies.
Miss X told the Council she was statutorily overcrowded but the Council has carried out two inspections and says she does not meet the Housing Act 1985 threshold for statutory overcrowding.
The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application/ a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.
I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Miss X should be placed in a higher banding
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman