Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council handled the complainant’s housing application. This is because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council delayed assessing her housing application causing her to have rent arrears. She says the Council has ignored her medical evidence and failed to respond to her complaints about housing benefit and harassment from her landlord.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
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 Ms X and the Council. I also considered our Assessment Code and invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Ms X applied to join the housing register in 2018. In November 2018 the Council apologised for a delay in assessing the application and backdated the application to May 2018. Ms X is in band three on the housing register.
6. Ms X has applied for medical priority and submitted medical evidence. The Council can award medical priority if someone’s accommodation is affecting their health. The Council reviewed the medical evidence but decided not to award medical priority. It told Ms X that band three already covers moderate medical need and there was nothing to suggest she would qualify for band two for having an urgent medical need to move.
7. Ms X reported she was having problems with her landlord. The Council signposted her to sources of advice and support but says she has not made contact. Ms X also asked for information about her housing benefit and the Council replied to her MP about this in March 2021. The Council invited Ms X to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment but says she has not made an application.
8. I will not investigate the delay in assessing the housing application because it is a late complaint. The delay happened in 2018 but Ms X did not complain to us until 2021. I have not seen any good reason to accept a late complaint and, in any case, the application was backdated.
9. I will not investigate the other issues because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council responded to her housing benefit query and provided advice on how Ms X could deal with the landlord problem. The Council did not ignore Ms X’s medical evidence but reviewed it and decided she does not qualify for medical priority. It also explained that if it awarded medical priority it would be unlikely to lead to an increase in her banding.

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Final decision

10. I will not investigate this complaint because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman