Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s housing needs since 2023. We will not exercise discretion to consider matters from 2023 to when his latest application was submitted in 2024 because these matters are outside the normal 12-month period for complaining to us. It is reasonable for Mr X to ask the Council for a review of the priority banding his application has been given since October 2024.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to consider re-housing him from his Council-rented 1 bedroom flat since 2023 when his wife and children moved into his home. He says he is very overcrowded and his family is suffering as a result.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I have also considered the Council’s housing allocations policy.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X says the Council has failed to properly assess his housing needs since he first asked it to re-house him in 2023 when his wife and children moved from abroad into his 1-bedroom flat. He asked the Council to move him to a larger property in 2023 but it advised him that he had intentionally worsened his housing circumstances by causing overcrowding and was ineligible under its allocations policy. He made a formal complaint in early 2024 and the Council replied in April, advising him to re-apply.
7. We will not investigate what happened in 2023 and 2024 because Mr X was aware of these events more than 12 months before he complained to us. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
8. Mr X says he has been advised to make a homelessness application due to the overcrowding, but he says he does not want to be placed in temporary accommodation outside the Council’s area. He has been eligible to bid on 5-bedroom vacancies since his application was accepted in October 2024 but he says he should be in a higher banding priority than his current Band B. He could ask the Council to carry out a review under s.166A of the housing Act 1996 if he has evidence that supports his view that he meets a higher banding priority.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s housing needs since 2023. We will not exercise discretion to consider matters from 2023 to when his latest application was submitted in 2024 because these matters are outside the normal 12-month period for complaining to us. It is reasonable for Mr X to ask the Council for a review of the priority banding his application has been given since October 2024.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman