Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s homeless application. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr x complained about the Council’s assessment of his homeless applications since 2017. He says he has been in temporary accommodation since then but was classed as non-priority homeless and threatened with eviction in 2022. He wants the Council to award him points which he should have had since 2015.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations scheme.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X was housed by the Council in temporary accommodation in 2017. In 2018 the Council notified him that it considered he was not in priority need under homeless legislation. He asked for a statutory review of the decision under homeless legislation. The review was not upheld and he remained in the accommodation due to the following COVID-19 pandemic restriction on evictions.
7. In 2022 the Council ended the homeless relief duty to Mr X and served him with an eviction notice. Mr X again challenged the decision by asking for a review of the ending of the duty and also challenging his non-priority need status. He provided medical background information relating to his mental health condition. This time the Council accepted the main housing duty towards him and the eviction was cancelled. Mr X asked for a further review of the Council’s decision that he was only eligible for studio accommodation and this was changed on review to one-bedroom need in January 2023.
8. Mr X says the Council has not included in his priority status the fact that he was in previous accommodation and had accumulated points for this prior to being placed in temporary accommodation. The Council’s housing allocations policy states that persons who are accepted for the main housing duty are awarded homeless duty points. This overrides any previous priority on the housing register and replaces any points which may have been awarded for medical or social reasons.
9. We will not investigate the matters relating to Mr X’s complaint prior to his request for a review in 2022. There is no evidence to suggest that he could not have complained to us sooner. Because he had a right to request statutory review of the homeless decision sand a further right to appeal to the County Court it was reasonable for him to pursue this remedy at the time.

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Final decision

10. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s homeless application. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman