Summary: We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint that the Council incorrectly awarded her a priority date of May 2020. This is because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. Miss Y, who lives in temporary accommodation, complains the Council incorrectly gave her a priority date of May 2020 on its housing register. She says the correct date is October 2019 as this is when the Council should have ended the relief duty.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss Y is homeless and lives in temporary accommodation arranged by the Council.
7. In May 2020, the Council ended the relief duty and accepted the main housing duty towards Miss Y.
8. In June 2024, Miss Y complained to the Council that it had incorrectly given her a priority date of May 2020 under its Housing Allocations Scheme. She said the Council delayed accepting the main housing duty. She said the Council should award her a priority date of October 2019 because this is the date by which it should have originally ended the relief duty.
9. Miss Y also complained to the Council that she had missed out on properties because of the incorrect priority date.
10. Miss Y did not complain to the Ombudsman about these matters until February 2025. Her complaints relating to delays in the Council accepting the main housing duty and the impact on her priority date are late. I have seen no good reasons to exercise discretion. In any event, the Council has now apologised for the delay and backdated her priority date to November 2019, which is the date by which it considers the Council should have accepted the main housing duty. It is unlikely further investigation by the Ombudsman would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint that the Council incorrectly awarded her a priority date of May 2020. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman