Summary: Mr D complains about the Council closing his housing register account in 2020 and says he should have additional housing priority. I have ended the investigation. Mr D can make a new complaint to the Council about his housing register account and can ask the Council to assess his housing priority.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Mr D) says the Council closed his housing register account incorrectly in 2020. He also says his family is overcrowded and the Council has not considered this in relation to the housing register account and housing priority.

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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))
4. We cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr D and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. I shared my draft decision with both parties.

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What I found

What happened

7. Mr D sent a complaint letter to the Council in March 2020. He said his family had been on the housing register and the Council had recently removed them without an explanation. Mr D says the Council did not respond. From October 2023 onwards Mr D started to pursue a complaint with the Council about repairs and damp at his Council owned home. He did not include a complaint about the housing register account in that correspondence with the Council.
8. In September 2024 Mr D said he sent a copy of the March 2020 letter to the Council. He has not provided any evidence to show he included a covering letter asking the complaint to be considered. In October Mr D’s MP told him they had asked the Council about the housing register issue and the Council advised that Mr D should contact its Choice Based Lettings Team to discuss.
9. In 2025 the Housing Ombudsman issued a report into complaints made by Mr D about damp and repairs at his property. In the complaint to the Housing Ombudsman Mr D had referred to the housing register issue and overcrowding. The Housing Ombudsman advised Mr D these were matters for the LGSCO. Mr D then brought his complaint about the housing register and overcrowding to the Ombudsman.

Reasons for my decision

10. I have discontinued (ended) our investigation. We will not consider events dating back to March 2020. The Ombudsman expects a complaint to be made and pursued within 12 months of a problem arising and Mr D has given us no good reasons to exercise our discretion to look at these events now. In this case Mr D sent a complaint letter in 2020 but has not shown any evidence that he pursued this with the Council until September 2024. Furthermore, in September 2024 it is unclear whether Mr D requested a formal complaints response or simply sent a copy of the original 2020 complaint. If it were the latter, I would not expect the Council to recognise that as a resubmitted complaint about an ongoing issue. Mr D also had the opportunity to make a formal complaint if he was dissatisfied with the Council’s feedback to his MP in October 2024. Mr D still has the option to lodge a new complaint with the Council, and I consider it would be reasonable for him to do so. This will afford the Council an opportunity to consider the case and take into account Mr D’s current housing situation.
11. In respect of Mr D’s concerns about whether his housing register account recognises his family being overcrowded, that is a matter Mr D needs to put to the Council in the first place. He can ask the Council to consider if the household is owed any additional housing priority because of overcrowding. If he is dissatisfied with the decision reached by the Council, he can then use his right of review which he can find out about in the Council’s Allocations Policy on its website. The Ombudsman usually expects the review process to be used.

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Decision

12. I have ended the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman