Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about housing benefit which the complainant says the Council should have paid to him, not his tenant. This is because this is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council kept paying the housing benefit to his tenant even though he had reported that she was in rent arrears.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

5. If a landlord provides a council with proof that a tenant has rent arrears of at least eight weeks then the council must pay the housing benefit direct to the landlord.

What happened

6. Mr X is a landlord. Mr X rented a property to a tenant in 2015. In May 2016 he told the Council the tenant had rent arrears. He did not provide evidence of the arrears.
7. Mr X again reported that the tenant was in arrears in December 2016 and January 2017. The Council asked for evidence of the arrears and for Mr X to complete a form and provide evidence of his bank account. The Council signposted Mr X to information on its website about housing benefit and landlords.
8. Mr X did not provide the information the Council had asked for. He sent the Council a copy of a letter he had sent to the tenant saying the Council was asking for inappropriate information which he would not provide.
9. Mr X next contacted the Council in November 2018 to report that the tenant had left and owed him rent. The Council told him it had already ended the housing benefit and there was no housing benefit it could give him. It said the rent arrears were a private matter between him and the tenant.
10. Mr X complained to the Council in March 2019. He complained that the Council had not diverted the housing benefit to him when he reported that his tenant was in arrears. In response the Council explained that he had never provided proof of his bank account or proof of the arrears.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X reported to the Council that the tenant was in arrears in 2016/17. He next contacted the Council in late 2018 and complained to the Ombudsman in July 2019. I have not seen any good reason to investigate a complaint which is more than three years old especially as there is no evidence that Mr X gave the Council proof of the arrears.

Back to top

Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman