Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a housing enquiry the complainant made in 2020 and a recent decision that he cannot join the housing register. This is because part of the complaint is late and there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council did not help him in 2020 when he was facing homelessness and will not now let him join the housing register. Mr X wants the Council to offer social housing.

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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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for an organisation review or appeal.

(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 Mr X and the Council. This includes correspondence from 2020 and the decision about his 2022 housing application. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Mr X made a homelessness enquiry in 2020. The Could told Mr X it had established he had accommodation and was not threatened with homelessness. As such, the Council said it could not help him. In February 2020 the Council invited Mr X to apply to join the housing register. The Council told me it has no record of Mr X submitting a housing register application in 2020. Mr X made a complaint to the Council in 2020 but did not complete the complaints process.
6. Mr X left the area and has been living in another part of the country since July 2020. In 2022 Mr X applied to the join the housing register. The Council rejected the application because he has not been living in the Council area for the past three years. Mr X has asked for a review; the Council is still conducting the review.
7. Mr X says the Council should have helped in 2020. I will not investigate this part of the complaint because it is late. Mr X could have escalated his complaint in early 2020 or submitted an application to the housing register in 2020. If he had applied to join the housing register in 2020 the Council might have accepted the application because it appears, in 2020, that he may have met the local connection rules. Further, while Mr X says the Council took two years to respond, that is not the case because Mr X did not complete the complaints process in 2020 and then submitted a new complaint in 2022 based on new circumstances.
8. The housing allocations policy says people must have lived in the Council area for the three years prior to applying to join the housing register. Mr X moved out of the area in 2020 and applied to join the register in 2022. The Council’s initial decision that Mr X cannot join the housing register reflects the policy. In addition, Mr X is using his review rights which is the correct way to challenge the decision. We are not a review or appeal body and we cannot direct the Council to provide Mr X with housing or make a decision regarding his housing application. I can only consider how the Council considered his application and I see no suggestion of fault.

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Final decision

9. We will not start an investigation 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