Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of its housing duties. Some of the complaint is late. For the remainder, Miss X did not use her appeal rights and there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council not allocating her a property.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s handling of its housing duties over the last five years, including disrepair and unsuitable accommodation.
2. Miss X also said that since being evicted she and her adult child have been in a homelessness crisis, which has caused distress and embarrassment.
3. Miss X wants the Council to provide her with a property. She has been unsuccessful in bids she has made on the housing register.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)
6. 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
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• it was reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Miss X complained about housing matters from more than 12 months ago. The law prevents us from investigating these issues. This part of Miss X’s complaint is late, and there are no good reasons why we should exercise our discretion to investigate now.

Homelessness duties

10. Miss X submitted a homelessness application to the Council. The Council considered it, and decided it owed her the relief duty, and so would not offer her emergency accommodation including outside London.
11. The relief duty is where councils must take reasonable steps to help to secure suitable accommodation for any eligible homeless person. When a council decides this duty has come to an end, it must notify the applicant in writing (Housing Act 1996, section 189B)
12. The Council advised Miss X of her right to request a review (Housing Act 1996, section 202) if she disagreed with its decision to offer the relief duty. Miss X did not request a review.
13. We will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint. Miss X had the right to request a review by the Council, and it was reasonable to expect her to use it.
14. The Council ended its relief duty to Miss X after 56 days of providing a relief duty, citing that it had satisfied its obligations (Housing Act 1996, section 189B(7)).
15. The Council advised Miss X of her right to request a review (Housing Act 1996, section 202) if she disagreed with its decision to end the relief duty. Miss X did not request a review until after the 21-day period had ended. The Council declined to consider her review request.
16. We will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint. Miss X had the right to request a review by the Council, and it was reasonable to expect her to use it. Only permission of the court can bring a late section 202 appeal back out of time.

Failure to allocate suitable accommodation

17. It is recorded in Miss X’s Personal Housing Plan that the average waiting time for a two-bedroom property is 9 years. Miss X had been on the Council’s housing register for three months.
18. The Ombudsman recognises that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas. The Ombudsman may not find fault with a council for failing to re-house someone, if it has prioritised applicants and allocated properties according to its published lettings scheme policy.
19. We will not investigate this part of Miss X’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council not offering Miss X a property under its housing allocations policy.

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Final decision

20. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. Some of it is late, some carried review rights which it was reasonable for Miss X to use and there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council not offering her a property under its housing allocations policy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman