Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (22 014 400)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Feb 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to offer Miss X any accommodation even though she has a high priority on the housing waiting list. This complaint which received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Miss x complained about the Council not making here any suitable offers of ground floor accommodation even though she has been on the housing register with high medical priority for some years.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X says she has been on the Council’s housing lost for a number of years. She has a high priority for ground floor accommodation because of her medical needs. She was assessed by an occupational therapist as requiring ground level accommodation because she lives in a basement flat and has difficulty with stairs.
- The Council has been unable to offer a suitable vacant property for her needs and she complained about his to the Council in August 2021. She was dissatisfied with the Council’s response and it informed her about the Ombudsman in September. Miss X has used our service previously in 2019. She did not complain to us about this matter until January 2023 which is outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints. I have seen no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to offer Miss X any accommodation even though she has a high priority on the housing waiting list. This complaint which received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman