Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (25 002 318)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Aug 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to rehouse Miss X in an area closer to her family. This is because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago. There is no reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council placed her in temporary accommodation and has failed to rehouse her and her children in an area closer to her family.
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 Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X currently lives with one of her parents and her two children. The Council placed her in temporary accommodation in 2021. She complained to the Council in 2023 because she was unhappy with the accommodation, and she wanted to be rehomed nearer to her family.
- In June 2025 the Council told Miss X in its final response that it would be unable to rehouse her as she was in significant rent arrears. Miss X brought the complaint to the Ombudsman as she was unhappy with the Council’s decision.
- The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months prior to the complainant becoming aware of them. In this case, the Council placed Miss X in the accommodation complained about in 2021 and she first complained about the matter in 2023. It would have been reasonable for her to complain at the time. There is no reason to exercise discretion to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago. There is no reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman