Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing matters. It is reasonable for Mr X to appeal a housing benefit decision, and it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s decision to suspend his housing application. Our investigation is unlikely to achieve more for communication issues than the Council has already offered.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council failed to communicate with him properly which he says has led to him incurring housing rent arrears, has failed to award him housing benefit and has failed to offer him a permanent home.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)
4. 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council paid housing benefit to Mr X’s wife. They separated. The Council stopped paying the housing benefit in October 2023. The Council says its housing officer emailed and texted Mr X in November 2023 to tell him he was in rent arrears and to consider applying for housing benefit. It says there was further contact in April 2024. Mr X says the Council has not made enough effort to contact him and discuss his rent arrears.
8. If we investigated, it is likely we would recommend a symbolic payment, for lack of contact between November 2023 and April 2024. Taking into account Mr X had notice of the issue in November, and he was not proactive in contacting the Council, it is unlikely our investigation could achieve significantly more than the £200 the Council offered.
9. The Council says it informed Mr X in August 2024 that his housing benefit application had been refused as his income is too high. Mr X has a right of appeal against that decision to the Tribunal and it is reasonable to expect him to use it.
10. Mr X says the Council should have offered him a permanent tenancy as he says he is living in temporary accommodation. The Council says Mr X’s housing application is suspended because he has more than £1000 in rent arrears. We are unlikely to find fault with this decision which is in line with normal practice.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about social housing rent arrears as we are unlikely to achieve more than the Council has already offered as a remedy. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal the housing benefit decision. And we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s decision to suspend his housing application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman