Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about events following the complainant’s eviction from privately rented accommodation in 2015. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council agreed to pay his eviction costs, in 2015, but has not done so. He also says the Council did not help him when he became homeless in 2015. Mr X wants the Council to pay his costs of £1099 and compensation.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint replies. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in response to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. In 2015 Mr X lived in privately rented accommodation. Due to a change in his circumstances his housing benefit was suspended for a few weeks while the Council reassessed it.
6. Mr X was evicted in 2015 for rent arrears. The court ordered him to pay £1745 to the landlord. Mr X says the Council told him, in 2015, that it would pay the eviction costs. Mr X says the Council has not paid the costs and provided no support when he became homeless in 2015.
7. Mr X was contacted in February 2020 about the outstanding court costs of £1099. He immediately contacted the Council because he thought the matter had been resolved.
8. The Council explained it had paid housing benefit in 2015 and it does not pay eviction costs. It also said his complaint was late. In April 2020 it signposted Mr X to us. Mr X complained to us in June 2021.
9. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X has known about the eviction costs since 2015 and, if he thought the Council had agreed to pay these costs, or had not provided adequate support when he became homeless, then it is reasonable to expect that he would have followed this up in 2015. But, he did not contact the Council again until 2020 and he did not complain to us until June 2021.
10. I have not seen any good reason to accept a complaint which is six years old. It was Mr X’s responsibility to pay the court costs and his responsibility to ensure payment was made if he thought the Council had agreed to pay. But, he took no action for five years and has not provided any evidence to support his contention that the matter had been resolved. In addition, Mr X has not given any reason for waiting from April 2020 until June 2021 to complain to us.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman