Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council making an unsuitable offer of permanent accommodation to him. There is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Council failed to provide suitable permanent accommodation to him since 2023 and offered an unsuitable property in March 2025. Mr X also complained that the Council failed to provide an accessible toilet in his current temporary accommodation despite undertaking to do the works in December 2024.

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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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X lives in temporary accommodation provided by the Council as it accepted a duty to accommodate him. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the suitability of the offers of permanent accommodation made to him up to March 2025. This is because we have previously considered complaints from Mr X about the suitability of these offers. We cannot reconsider our previous decisions on Mr X’s complaints or reconsider the same events.
6. The Council offered a property to Mr X in March 2025. We will not normally consider complaints about the suitability of offers of permanent accommodation to end the Council’s homelessness duty. This is because there is a statutory right to request a review of the decision. The applicant can also appeal to the county court if a review request is not successful.
7. Mr X requested a review of the suitability of the offer made in March 2025. There is no evidence of significant delay in the Council considering Mr X’s request and the further representations made by Mr X’s solicitor. So, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. Furthermore, Mr X did not move into the property before the Council decided it was unsuitable. So, even if there was fault, there would be not enough injustice to Mr X to justify an investigation.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council not providing an accessible toilet as it is premature. Before we can investigate a complaint, we must be sure the council is aware of the complaint and had a reasonable opportunity to respond to the person complaining. So, we normally expect people to make a complaint to the Council for it to consider the complaint through its complaints procedure. Mr X’s complaint about the lack of an accessible toilet is a separate matter from his complaint about the suitability of the offer of permanent accommodation. It is therefore reasonable to expect Mr X to make a complaint to the Council about the lack of an accessible toilet and we will not investigate it at this time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman