THE Local Government watchdog has rejected a complaint by York architect Matthew Laverack over the revelation that beds in York’s homeless hostels are officially considered “affordable homes.”

Mr Laverack had complained to the ombudsman that City of York Council gave inaccurate and misleading information in a letter to The Press earlier this year.

An officer said in the letter that 151 affordable homes were completed in 2008/09 and the authority predicted another 146 would be completed in 2009/10. But Mr Laverack discovered through a Freedom of Information request that 35 out of the 151 affordable homes were actually beds at the Arc Light homeless hostel in Clarence Street, which replaced the old Arc Light in Leeman Road, and 22 of the predicted 146 affordable homes were beds at the new hostel in Fishergate, which replaced the old one in Peasholme.

He said that “by no stretch of the imagination” could a bunk in a homeless hostel be regarded as an affordable home, but the council said the figures were in line with the Homes And Communities Agency’s classification of homeless hostel provision as affordable housing.

Now ombudsman investigator Neil Mackay has told Mr Laverack his provisional view is that he should not pursue the complaint.

He said the ombudsman considered whether someone had suffered an injustice because of a council’s maladministration, and complaints would only be pursued if the complainant was personally disadvantaged significantly enough to justify the ombudsman’s involvement.