Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about disrepair and the housing register. This is because part of the complaint is late and because we cannot investigate complaints about a council when it is acting as a landlord.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains about disrepair in her home. She also says she missed out on seven years on the housing register because the Council did not put her on the bidding system when it rehoused her in 2015.

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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 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)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X is a Council tenant. She complains of disrepair in the property and that the Council wanted to do the repairs while she was in the property.
7. The law says we cannot investigate any complaint that involves the Council acting as a landlord. The Council is acting as Mrs X’s landlord in relation to the repairs so I have no power to start an investigation. Mrs X could consider making a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.
8. Mrs X says the Council provided her current accommodation in 2015. She says it did not tell her to join the housing register if she wanted to move. The Council told me Mrs X joined the housing register in March 2023. Mrs X wants the Council to backdate the application because it did not invite her to make an application in 2015.
9. I will not start an investigation into this issue because it is a late complaint. Mrs X has been on the housing register since March 2023 but did not complain to us until December 2024. I have not seen any good reason to accept a late complaint.
10. Mrs X thinks she should be in a higher band on the housing register and the Council was conducting a review; when the Council issued its final complaint response this review had not been completed. If Mrs X thinks the Council did not process the review correctly, she can make a new complaint. It cannot be included as part of this complaint because the review had not been completed when Mrs X made the complaint to us.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because part of it is late and because we cannot investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman