Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s housing. Parts of the complaint are late without enough reason to investigate them now. It is unlikely we could reach a clear enough view or achieve anything significant on some points now. The Council has not yet had a reasonable opportunity to deal with some other potential points of complaint. The law prevents us investigating the Council’s management of Mr X’s social housing.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about matters involving his housing, in particular the Council’s handling of his wish to move home. He says this means he remains in housing that does not meet his needs and where problems with the building, its vicinity and neighbours’ behaviour affect his quality of life.

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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, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation 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 organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
6. 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 or continue an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant, copy correspondence from the Council and information from another complaint-handling body.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The central point of Mr X’s complaint to us is Mr X’s wish to move home.

Mr X’s wish to move to a property with a particular landlord

10. Mr X would like to move to a property with a particular landlord organisation in particular areas outside Camden. He mentions discussing this with the Council. The Council has no control over social housing allocation outside its own borough. Investigation would be unlikely to find any fault by the Council preventing Mr X getting such accommodation.

Sheltered housing

11. Mr X has also applied for sheltered housing in Camden.
12. The Council refused several applications between 2013 and 2018. The restriction in paragraph 3 applies to this part of the complaint. I understand Mr X has had health problems. However, I am not persuaded there is good enough reason for not bringing any complaint about those refusals to us much sooner. It is also unlikely we could reach a clear enough view now about events so long ago.
13. The Council refused another application in October 2022. Mr X complained to us in July 2024, so the restriction in paragraph 3 applies here, too. Between those dates, Mr X was in the Council’s complaint procedure from November 2023 to April 2024. He then contacted another complaint-handling organisation but came to us before that organisation decided it could not consider the housing application. Any confusion from dealing with the other organisation only applied to a few months of the period since October 2022. I realise Mr X has also had health problems, which might have meant it took longer to complain to us than if he had not been unwell. I also note Mr X has been able to pursue other matters during that time. Overall, I consider Mr X could reasonably have raised this matter with the Council sooner and so come to us sooner. So I am not persuaded to investigate this late part of the complaint now.
14. Also, even if we were to investigate and find fault with the 2022 decision, the most likely result would be us asking the Council to reconsider. It is unlikely we would say what the Council’s decision on the application should be. However, Mr X can reapply anyway, and he reapplied recently based on his current circumstances. So investigating the 2022 decision now is unlikely to achieve anything significant enough to warrant our devoting time and public money to investigating.
15. After contacting us in July 2024, Mr X applied to the Council again for sheltered accommodation. The Council also refused that application and told Mr X he could appeal to the Council. Those events were all after Mr X’s complaint to us, so any complaint about them would be a new matter, not part of the present complaint. The restriction in paragraph 5 therefore applies. I see no good reason for us to deal with any complaint about the recent refusal before Mr X gives the Council a reasonable opportunity to deal with it.

Adult social care services

16. Mr X mentioned receiving adult social care services from the Council. I have seen no evidence any complaint about those services has completed the Council’s complaint procedure. If Mr X is unhappy with any care services, he should complain to the Council and go through its complaint procedure first.

Other matters

17. Mr X’s complaint also mentioned other matters to us about the Council not arranging a viewing before he moved into his home many years ago, disrepair at his home, the behaviour of neighbours, the structure of his building, a pest infestation at his building and neighbours leaving litter and waste out. These points are about the Council’s provision and management of its social housing. The law prevents us considering them, as paragraph 4 explained. I appreciate Mr X might have learned that after contacting us, but I include this point for completeness.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman