Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s offer of unsuitable accommodation in 2024 or the assessment of Mrs X’s housing application. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner. We will not investigate her complaint about her housing priority because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council offering her accommodation under its homelessness duty which she says is too small for her family. She says one bedroom is too small to be usable and her children are too old to share. She says she should have been given higher priority for her application.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, 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

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. Mrs X was re-housed by the Council in January 2024 in a 3-bedroom property which it considered suitable for her family’s housing needs. She has two children and she says that one of the bedrooms is too small to be used as a bedroom. We will not investigate whether this was a reasonable offer by the Council. The offer was made to Mrs X more than 12 months before she complained to us in November 2025. I have seen no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
7. We have some discretion to consider older complaints in some circumstances but that would not apply in this case. Even had Mrs X complained to us within 12 months she had a right to request a review of the suitability under s.202 of the Housing Act 1996 and we would have advised to her use this and the further appeal rights available.
8. Mrs X did not pursue a review but she subsequently submitted a housing transfer application because she says she is overcrowded. The Council measured the rooms and living space available and told her that she is not statutorily overcrowded because the small room is usable by some of her children and the house has a separate living room which is categorised as available for sleeping accommodation under the provisions of the Housing Act 1985 overcrowding space standards.
9. The Council recognised that she had some housing priority and initially awarded Band 4 priority. This was later changed to Band 3 following a medical assessment of her needs. We may not find fault with a council’s assessment of a housing application or a housing applicant’s priority if it has carried this out in line with its published allocations scheme. We recognise that the demand for social housing far outstrips the supply of properties in many areas.
10. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made. I have seen no evidence of fault which would suggest that Mrs X should be placed in a higher banding.

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Final decision

11. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s offer of unsuitable accommodation in 2024 or the assessment of Mrs X’s housing application. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner. We will not investigate her complaint about her housing priority because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman