Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint that the Council withdrew offers of housing it made under its allocation policy in 2018. The matters Mr X complains about occurred in 2018 and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to accept the complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council withdrew offers of housing it made under its allocation policy in 2018. He says the Council should not have withdrawn the offers and should make him another offer of accommodation.

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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 the information provided by Mr X in his complaint and the Council’s responses to him.
5. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Mr X, who had an opportunity to comment on it.

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What I found

Background

6. Mr X joined the Council’s housing register in 2008.
7. In 2018, the Council told Mr X that he was the top applicant on two properties he had bid for.
8. When the Council verified Mr X’s application for the first property, it realised that his priority on the housing register was incorrect. The Council had not correctly updated Mr X’s priority when he moved home in 2017, resulting in Mr X appearing to have higher priority on the register than he was entitled to.
9. This meant that Mr X did not qualify for the properties. The Council has apologised for its mistake but explained to Mr X that it did not formally offer the properties to him because he was not entitled to them.
10. In June 2020, Mr X complained to the Council about having the offers “withdrawn” and that after 12 years on the housing register, it should offer him a property.

Analysis

11. The law says that complaints must be made to the Ombudsman within 12 months of when the complainant became aware of the matter. The issues Mr X complains about were known to him in 2018.
12. We have discretion to set aside this rule where we decide there are good reasons. I have decided not to exercise discretion in this case because:
• It is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us within 12 months of knowing about the issue;
• Mr X has not provided any good reasons why he did not complain sooner and;
• The error by the Council did not lead to any significant injustice to Mr X. He was not entitled to the properties, so did not lose out on any accommodation.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to consider the complaint now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman