Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing application. She says she has waited over the Council’s published average waiting time for a property. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. In addition, there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her housing application. She says she has waited over the Council’s published average waiting time for a property. She also says the Council failed to consider she was a victim of crime.

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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. We investigate 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), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X joined the housing register in April 2016. She was awarded Band 3 priority, which is the lowest priority band. The Council explained Miss X was awarded Band 3 as her current accommodation met her needs.
7. Miss X says the Council published that the average waiting time for those in Band 3 was five years. Miss X says she has been waiting for more than seven years. Miss X considers the Council is discriminating against her by not rehousing her.
8. The figures Miss X refers to are average waiting times. This isn’t a guaranteed wait time. As it is an average figure, it follows that there will always be people either side of that average.
9. In addition, more people will be added to the housing register each year, and who may have a higher priority than Miss X. This in turn would mean Miss X’s priority reduces. This would inevitably impact on the length of time she would need to wait before she is successful in bidding for a property. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault.
10. Miss X does not appear to have complained about her banding priority, although she has noted that she feels the Council has not taken into account her history of being a victim of a crime. If Miss X considers her banding priority to be wrong, she can ask the Council to complete a banding review.
11. Miss X also complained about the Council blocking her housing register account from bidding between 2019 and 2023. However, Miss X does not appear to have complained about this until 2023. I cannot see any good reasons for why Miss X did not complain about this matter sooner, particularly as Miss X should have been aware of her inability to bid at the time. Therefore, there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider this late complaint.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault. In addition, there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman