Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing 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 housing application in 2020 when he says he was faced with homelessness. He says the Council failed to take into account his health issues and that the officer who dealt with his case in 2020 was unprofessional and unhelpful.

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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).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he was faced with homelessness in 2020 due to the Council’s actions over his planning application. He had made a housing application but the Council did not provide him with sufficient support at the time or during the ensuing COVID-19 lockdown period. He made a formal complaint about the handling of his case and the Council responded at Stage of the complaints procedure in July 2020.
6. The response invited Mr X to progress to Stage 2 if he wished to challenge the decision not to uphold his complaint. Mr X did not reply but in June 2024 he asked the Council if it would progress his complaint. He stated that his mental health issues led to him forgetting to reply. The Council said it would not do so after four years and that he had been rehoused by the Council in 2021 so his housing circumstances no longer applied.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint now. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

8. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing 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