London Borough of Havering (24 016 837)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Mar 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a Council decision that it would not make an offer of social housing until she had cleared historic rent arrears. The complaint is late and there is no good reason to investigate now.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about a Council decision in February 2023 that it would not make her an offer of social housing until she had cleared historic rent arrears from 2016. She says she should not have to pay the debt due to damp and mould issues in the property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In February 2023, the Council told Ms X it would not allocate her social housing until she had cleared historic rent arrears.
- Ms X complained about the matter but acted to clear the debt in October 2023.
- The Council provided a final response to her complaint in April 2024 but Ms X did not approach us until December 2024.
- This complaint is late. We expect people to complaint to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. The Council told Ms X of its decision in February 2023. I can see no good reason why Ms X could not have approached us sooner and so we will not investigate now.
- We will also not investigate a complaint about the condition of her property in 2016. This complaint is also late.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is late and there is no good reason to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman