London Borough of Hackney (25 005 082)
Category : Housing > Allocations
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her housing application. This is because the complaint is late.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council have not backdated the qualifying date of her housing application to the qualifying date of her previous application.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X lives in a one-bedroom property with her two children. In 2021 Miss X became aware she was removed from the housing register. Miss X reapplied to the housing register in 2023 following the birth of her youngest child. She was awarded a band B with a qualifying date in 2023.
- Miss X complains her 2023 qualifying date doesn’t reflect the time she spent on the housing register under her previous application.
- The Council’s allocations policy does not allow applicants to keep their original qualifying date when their band is increased. Miss X would not have had an earlier qualifying date if she had not been removed from the housing register. This is because her priority band increased after the birth of her youngest child.
- Miss X has been aware of these matters since 2023. We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2025. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I have considered whether to exercise our discretion to investigate the complaint, but I have seen no good reasons to do so.
- Miss X also complains of poor communication and delays in the complaint process.
- We will not investigate how the Council dealt with Miss X’s complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the complaint is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman