Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing register applications. It is unlikely an investigation would lead to a finding of fault or achieve what Ms X wants.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her housing register applications. She says the Council did not respond to her review request following its decision to refuse her application in April 2023. Following a new application in March 2024, it delayed reaching a decision and has placed her in the wrong priority band. She wants the Council to increase her priority band and backdate it to April 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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, or

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We will not investigate the Council’s handling of her April 2023 housing register application as this complaint is late. If Ms X did not receive a response to her review request, she could have chased this up at the time or approached us sooner.
7. Ms X submitted a new housing register application in March 2024, which the Council decided in September 2024. It placed her in band 4. In its complaint response, the Council told Ms X her priority banding may change, depending on the outcome of a homelessness application. It accepted there had been delay and poor communication in assessing her application. It apologised to Ms X for this and said it had reminded officers of the need to respond promptly. This is an appropriate remedy for any distress caused. An investigation by us is unlikely to achieve anything more.
8. Ms X subsequently submitted a homelessness application, and the Council accepted it owed her the main housing duty in December 2024. It increased her priority banding to band 2. This decision appears to be in line with the Council’s housing allocations policy and so it is unlikely an investigation would find fault. In the absence of fault, we could not ask the Council to increase her housing priority. We will not investigate as it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a finding of fault or achieve what Ms X wants.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a finding of fault or achieve what Ms X wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman