London Borough of Camden (25 002 675)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s management of Mr X’s housing request. This is because the complaint is about events that took place more than 12 months ago. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate now.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council initially agreed to rehouse him on his mother’s estate but retracted the offer. He also complained the Council has failed to address mould at his property and lost his medical records.
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 Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council in 2023 about its failure to rehouse him on his mother’s estate, to address mould at his property or to explain how it lost and rediscovered his medical records. He said these issues had been ongoing since 2021.
- The Council upheld Mr X’s complaint and offered him compensation but Mr X referred the matter to us as he remained unhappy with the Council’s actions.
- The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months before the complainant became aware of them. In this case, it would have been reasonable for Mr X to bring this complaint to us sooner; there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this complaint now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is about events that took place more than 12 months ago. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman