Summary: Ms X complained that the Council evicted her from her council tenancy in 2017 without properly considering her situation at the time. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns the actions of a social housing landlord and is not within our jurisdiction. We will not consider matters which took place in 2017 because they are outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complained about the Council evicting her from her previous Council tenancy whilst she was in other accommodation after fleeing domestic violence in 2016. She says she understood that her housing benefit would cover both addresses until 2018 and that when the Council evicted her in her absence, she lost many personal possessions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Ms X submitted with her complaint. Ms X has had an opportunity to comment on a copy of my draft decision.

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What I found

5. Ms X left her Council home in 2016 due to domestic violence and lived in another area. She claimed housing benefit on both properties from 2016. In October 2017 the Council took possession of her home because it says there were rent arrears not covered by housing benefit and the property was considered abandoned. In 2018 Ms X discovered that her tenancy had been ended and that her belongings had been removed from the house.
6. The Council Housing service says she had not given her details of her new address in 2017 and that attempts to contact her had been unsuccessful. Ms X had clearly been in contact with housing benefits in 2016 but they were unaware that she had been evicted when her claim ended in 2017.
7. Ms X complained to the Council about the loss of her tenancy and possessions. The Council has made an offer of compensation for her lost belongings but says the eviction was correctly based on rent arrears at the time.
8. The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about the actions of social housing landlords and cannot do so. We can investigate some complaints about housing benefit services, but these matters took place before the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints. Because the housing benefits service was unaware that Ms X had been evicted, we would not be able to say there was fault even had the complaint been received within the required timescale.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns the actions of a social housing landlord and is not within our jurisdiction. We will not consider matters which took place in 2017 because they are outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman