Sanctuary Housing Association (202108590)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202108590

Sanctuary Housing Association

2 November 2021


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 concerns the accuracy of a listing on Devon Homes Choice.

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 is a tenant of the landlord.
  2. The resident is registered with Devon Home Choice which is a choice based letting scheme operated by housing associations and local authorities in Devon. The resident’s current landlord lists its properties on Devon Home Choice.
  3. On 29 June 2021, the resident raised a complaint that they had been prevented from bidding on a property listed by their current landlord on Devon Home Choice. was as it was inaccurately listed on Devon Home Choice. They explained that, had the property been correctly listed, they would have been able to bid on it – they felt that they had therefore missed out on a property. 
  4. The landlord provided a final response to the complaint on 23 August 2021. The landlord explained that the listing on Devon Home Choice had been incorrect and apologised for the error. It explained that the property had since been let.
  5. The resident brought the complaint to this service on the 26 August 2021.  

Reasons

  1. The Housing Ombudsman Scheme sets out the type of complaints that this Service can and cannot consider. Paragraph 36 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:

(36) The person complaining, or on whose behalf a complaint is made must have been, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, adversely affected by those actions or omissions in respect of their application for, or occupation of, property

  1. This means that we can consider a resident’s complaints about a member landlord when it affects their occupancy of one of its properties, or when they are applying directly to the landlord for a property.
  2. The resident is a tenant of the landlord, but the complaint does not concern their current property. It concerns the accuracy of information about another of the landlord’s properties which was listed on Devon Homes Choice’s website.
  3. The resident’s complaint concerns a property listing made by their landlord on Devon Home Choice. The resident’s assessment for housing and access to bid on properties is managed by Devon Home Choice, as is the information it provides about properties on its websites. The resident can only apply for properties through Devon Home Choice, therefore they were not yet an applicant of the landlord.
  4. The Ombudsman cannot consider this complaint as it does not concern the resident’s current property, or a direct application to the landlord for housing.
  5. Devon Homes Choice is a choice based letting service operated on behalf of local authorities in the area. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can consider complaints about local authorities. This may be a complaint that the resident can refer to the LGSCO.
  6. Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman details are as follows: www.lgo.org.uk 0300 061 0614.