Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council offered new homes to people with less priority that the complainant. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, says the Council offered properties to families with less propriety than her on the housing waiting list.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mrs X lives in overcrowded conditions and has been on the housing register since 2021. She has 300 points and needs a mobility four property.
5. Mrs X applied for housing in a new development but was unsuccessful. Mrs X complained the Council offered the properties to people with less priority.
6. In response the Council explained why she was unsuccessful and why it had offered the properties to other families. It explained that people who need a mobility three property have more priority for a mobility three bedroom property than a mobility four applicant. It also explained that some of the properties were subject to a local lettings plan which meant they could only be offered to people who were previously living in specific streets. The Council said it cannot re-house Mrs X outside the bidding process as that would be unfair to other applicants.
7. I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. I have considered the allocations policy, and the Council’s response, and there is no suggestion of fault in the way the Council processed Mrs X’s bids or offered the properties to other families. Mrs X needs to move but, unfortunately, so do many other families; there is nothing to suggest other families have been re-housed contrary to the policy or the local lettings plan, and we have no power to ask the Council to re-house Mrs X contrary to the policy. I appreciate the bidding system may sometimes appear confusing, or it may appear the Council is re-housing people out of turn, but I have not seen anything to suggest we need to start an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman