Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council considered Miss X’s housing application and reports of unsafe conditions in her private rented accommodation. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to support her and her child when she reported unsafe conditions in her private rented accommodation. She said this has caused harm to her mental, emotional and physical health. She would like the Council to find safe and suitable accommodation for her and her child. She would like the Council to make improvements to prevent other families feeling trapped in uninhabitable conditions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X lives in private rented accommodation with her child, Y. She complained the Council did not support her and her child when she had difficulties in her private rented accommodation.

Private Rented Accommodation Issues

7. Miss X first reported issues with her private rented accommodation to the Council in October 2024.
8. In its complaint response, the Council said it visited Miss X’s property in November 2024. The inspection report from this visit detailed a schedule of works for improvements needed at the property which was shared with Miss X’s landlord.
9. Miss X complained to the Council that her landlord had not completed the repairs detailed within the schedule of works, and had entered her property without her permission.
10. In its complaint response, the Council said it had informed Miss X’s landlord that he should formally notify Miss X before he needed to access her property. It signposted Miss X to an agency that provided advice and advocacy for renters and arranged a re-inspection of her property for August 2025.
11. The Council issued a Hazard Awareness Notice for Miss X’s property in September 2025 which highlighted four category two hazards relating to damp and mould, cold, hygiene and drainage. The Council said it would re-inspect the property after six months.
12. We will not investigate this part of the complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault. The Council assessed Miss X’s property on two occasions, provided a schedule of works for improvements and liaised with the landlord about the progress of the works. The Council has also said it will re-inspect Miss X’s property in March 2026 to assess the improvements.

Housing Register Application

13. Miss X applied to join the Council’s housing register in late 2022. The Council wrote to Miss X in February 2023 to advise her that she had been awarded a low medical priority of 50 points and that only applicants with 100 or more points could bid on properties. The Council advised Miss X that she could ask for a review of this decision.
14. Miss X asked for a breakdown of her housing register points in October 2025. The Council told Miss X that she still had 50 points from medical priority. It said that reports of housing disrepair would require a supporting report from the Council’s Private Sector Housing team before her application could be re-assessed.
15. We will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint. It would now be too late to consider a complaint about the Council’s decision of 2023, as Miss X could have complained to us at the time if she was dissatisfied with the points it awarded her due to disability. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions of 2025. It provided a breakdown of Miss X’s application points and advised how it would consider reports of disrepair as part of her application. It is open to Miss X to ask the Council to consider a report from the Private Sector Housing team.
16. Miss X also complained to us that the Council had retrospectively charged her council tax before her property had received a council tax band. We told Miss X in May 2025 that she would need to register a separate complaint with us for us to consider the actions of the Council’s benefits department. While Miss X disagrees, this option remains open to her.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman