Summary: We cannot investigate all of Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision on her housing allocation award, because parts of it is late and there are no good reasons why she could not have complained to us sooner. Of the parts we can investigate, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said she was unhappy the Council did not do enough to secure her a four-bedroom property, in line with her needs, because she is overcrowded. She also said she was unhappy with the Council’s earlier decisions about her housing allocation band.
2. Mrs X said this has caused significant tension in her home and she wants the Council to secure a four bedroomed property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. 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 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s decision-making about her housing allocation band in 2017 and 2019. We cannot investigate this part of Mrs X’s complaint because it is late, and I have not seen any good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
9. Mrs X was also unhappy the Council have not found her a four bedroomed property and she was previously unable to bid on other three-bedroom properties. The Council told Mrs X it assessed her as being severely overcrowded and explained why she was unable to bid on the earlier properties. It said it identified her housing need as a four bedroomed property.
10. The Council’s allocation policy says a person cannot bid for a property that does not meet their needs. Given the Council’s explanation here, it is unlikely we would find fault, Mrs X could not bid for the properties she believed were suitable.
11. Additionally, we would not criticise a Council for not finding a suitable property. The Council explained the high demand for properties of this type in its borough and it is not fault it cannot meet this demand.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because parts of it are late and there are no good reasons we should exercise discretion to consider it. And of the parts remaining, it is unlikely we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman