Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (24 013 711)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Councils consideration of a homeless application. It was reasonable for Mr X to challenge the Council’s decision by way of statutory review and court appeal.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council did not assess his priority need for housing correctly.
- He says his current housing puts him at risk and away from support.
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 or continue an investigation if we decide it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X applied to the Council as homeless in October 2023.
- The Council wrote to Mr X in April 2024 and advised that it no longer owed him Relief Duty under the Housing Act 1996. In addition, it informed him it did not owe him a main duty as he was not priority need.
- The Council advised Mr X that he could ask for a review of the decision under s.202 of the Housing Act 1996. If he was unhappy with its review decision, he could have appealed to the county court on a point of law.
- It would have been reasonable for Mr X to exercise his rights of review and appeal. Therefore, we will not consider the complaint further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision he was not in priority need. It was reasonable for Mr X to challenge the Council’s decision by way of a statutory review and court appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman