Hounslow Council (202009297)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202009297

Hounslow Council

13 June 2022


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for rehousing and adaptations.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The resident lives in a four–bedroom property with four children under the age of fifteen. In its final complaint response, the landlord explained that a report by an occupational therapist (the OT) had been referred to the local authority’s Occupational Therapy team to consider recommendations to help the family in the property. It added that this team would liaise with its adaptations team in relation to progressing adjustments where possible and in line with its internal procedures.
  2. In that complaint response, the landlord explained that the OT had recommended a five‑bedroom home with sufficient space for a carer but that a four-bedroom property might be suitable if there was a large enough bedroom which could be suitably partitioned. It said there was no recommendation for an additional bedroom for a carer. The landlord also said that the resident’s application for rehousing was registered in band 2 on medical grounds. It explained that she was short of one bedroom (as per the OT’s recommendation) and was not therefore eligible for inclusion in band 1.
  3. When the resident approached the Ombudsman, she said she wanted the landlord to adapt her home to make six bedrooms and add two bathrooms to meet her and her family’s needs. She said she believed it had been recommended that she should have a live-in carer but the landlord was refusing to create an additional bedroom.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39(m) of the Scheme states that the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, fall properly within the jurisdiction of another Ombudsman, regulator or complaint-handling body.
  2. Housing allocations under the Housing Act 1996 Part 6 which include applications for housing that meet the reasonable preference criteria (dealt with by the local housing authority or any other body acting on its behalf) are a matter for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the LGSCO). These include the assessment of such applications and banding.
  3. Furthermore, the LGSCO also deal with complaints about a local authority’s Social Service’s occupational therapy services including applications for mandatory and discretionary housing improvement grants.
  4. Accordingly, the Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s requests for rehousing and adaptations because, under paragraph 39(m) of the Scheme, this is a matter for the LGSCO.