Summary: Ms X complained about the poor state of her former council tenancy which she vacated in 2015. She also complained about being removed from the housing transfer register in 2019 and failure to deal with anti-social behaviour since June 2019. The Ombudsman cannot investigate some parts this complaint. This is because it concerns the actions of a social housing landlord which are outside our jurisdiction. We can consider the Council’s decisions on her housing application, but we will not exercise discretion to do so because they concern matters which took place more than 12 months before we received the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complained about the poor state of her council accommodation which she moved out of in 2015 following a management transfer. She says she lost a lot of possessions due to dampness in the property. She also complained that the Council removed her housing transfer application from the list in February 2019. She had to borrow money to pay off rent arrears she owed in order to be re-instated on the list.
2. Ms X also complained about the Council’s failure to deal properly with anti-social behaviour by other tenants in her block which she reported in 2019. She says she wants a transfer from her current home but is in Band 2 despite having medical issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
5. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered all the information which Ms X submitted with her complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response. Ms X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

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What I found

7. Ms X lived in a Council property before she moved to her current tenancy in 2015. She says the previous property was damp and this caused damage to her possessions and her health. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about housing repairs or conditions in social housing because these matters are outside our jurisdiction.
8. Ms X complained to the Council in June 2019 about her housing transfer application being removed from the list due to her owing more than £1,000 in arrears. She had to borrow money to clear the debt but did not have her application backdated until May 2019. The Council advised Ms X in February 2019 that she had a right to ask for a review of the decision but did not use this.
9. The Ombudsman will not exercise discretion to investigate this aspect of the complaint because it took place more than 12 months before Ms X brought the matter to our attention. If she had complained within 12 months we would have advised her to seek a review of the decision. Once she paid the due amount her case was re-instated, so it is too late to consider this now.
10. Ms X complained in June 2019 about other tenants acting in anti-social ways in her block, including drugs use in communal areas. The Council investigated and interviewed Ms X in August. She asked the Council not to pursue her complaint further because she was worried she may be identified as the source of complaint. She made further reports of criminal activity in November and the Council wrote to all residents of the block and involved the Police with regard to drug use. When she made further complaints in April 2020 the Council again wrote to all residents with her agreement.
11. Ms X says she wants to transfer away from the address and she currently has an active application in Band 2 on the housing register. She has submitted medical evidence about her situation, and it is for the Council to decide what priority she receives according to its scheme of allocation. It is not the Ombudsman’s role to question the merits of a Council’s decision where there is no evidence of fault in the administrative process.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman cannot investigate some parts this complaint. This is because it concerns the actions of a social housing landlord which are outside our jurisdiction. We can consider the Council’s decisions on her housing application, but we will not exercise discretion to do so because they concern matters which took place more than 12 months before we received the complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman