Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s housing application. Part of the complaint is late without good reason to investigate it now. The Council has not had a reasonable opportunity to deal with other parts.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of his housing application. He says this means his family remains in overcrowded accommodation, which he believes adversely affects family members’ health.

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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, section 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy correspondence from the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Medical priority

7. Mr X complains the Council did not give his housing application medical priority because of the medical circumstances of people in his household. The Council states Mr X applied for medical priority in February 2022, it refused the application in April 2022 and reviewed the decision in May and June 2022, refusing medical priority each time.
8. Mr X knew about the Council’s position then as he sought reviews and complained to the Council on 13 June 2022 about it not giving medical priority. He did not complain to us until 21 July 2023. Therefore the restriction in paragraph 3 applies to this part of the complaint.
9. Mr X knew about the Ombudsman in June 2022, as his complaint to the Council mentioned us. The Council’s final response to Mr X’s complaint on 5 September 2022 said he could complain to us. However, Mr X did not complain to us for a further 10 months, which was between 13 and 15 months of knowing of the Council’s relevant decisions.
10. I appreciate Mr X has a large family, including young children, and some of his family have medical needs. Those demands are time-consuming. However, the housing application is an important matter for Mr X. Putting a complaint to us is relatively straightforward. Mr X is evidently able to pursue matters. Overall, I consider Mr X could reasonably have complained to us sooner, and within 12 months of the events he complains about.

Other parts of complaint

11. Mr X’s complaint to us was also about: only being able to bid for properties the Council marks suitable for the number of people in his household, which rarely become available; not being able to bid for other properties; alleged lack of clarity in the Council’s housing allocations scheme and in information the Council gave Mr X; a delay updating his housing application after the birth of a child; and other matters.
12. I have seen no evidence those points have completed the Council’s complaint procedure. Mr X’s formal complaint correspondence with the Council in 2022 did not cover those additional points. Therefore the restriction in paragraph 4 applies to those points. Mr X is evidently able to pursue complaints against the Council, so it is reasonable to expect him to do so before the Ombudsman will deal with complaints about these points. If Mr X remains dissatisfied after taking these points through the Council’s complaint procedure, he can complain to us.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman