Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation. We will not exercise discretion to consider matters the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before we received the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to increase the priority of her housing application for medical reasons. She says her current council rented home poses a threat to the safety of her children because of suicide risks and she needs to move to ground floor accommodation urgently.

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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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, 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))

3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s response.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X says she has been asking the Council to increase her housing application priority for the past 3 years. She says the Council ignored her requests and did not carry out a medical assessment until this year. We will not investigate the matters which relate to the earlier years because it was reasonable for her to complain to us within 12 months of being dissatisfied with the Council’s response.
8. 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.
9. The Council carried out a medical assessment in July 2025 but concluded that Miss X’s existing home could be fitted with safety latches to reduce the risk of jumping form the windows and door. Miss X disagrees with the outcome of the assessment. She was told in the Council’s decision that she could ask for a review of the decision on her priority within 21 days. She did not ask for a review and says she may not have read this.
10. The Council considered Miss X for a direct offer of a ground floor property but she refused this on viewing because she says the kitchen layout was unsuitable. She says that the Council should find her a ground floor property with a garden but the Council says such vacancies are in high demand and occur infrequently.
11. The Council has fitted new windows with safety latches and plans to replace the remaining windows and door similarly when scaffolding can be ordered. If Miss X is dissatisfied with the works her landlord has carried out she may submit a compalint to the Housing Ombudsman service and the Council has already provided contact details for this body. We have no jurisdiction to investigate tenancy matters carried out by social housing landlords.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation. We will not exercise discretion to consider matters the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before we received the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman