Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in processing her housing register application. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for investigating now. In any case, the Council has apologised and made a payment to remedy its delay, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council had not updated her housing register application after she provided relevant documents. Ms X said this meant her application was not live so she could not bid for social housing and remained in overcrowded accommodation with her children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 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:

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

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

What happened

7. Ms X requested changes to her housing register application in November 2021 and January 2022. The Council advised Ms X to send it birth certificates for her children and evidence of her employment. Its records indicate Ms X provided these documents in January 2022. In June 2022, the Council asked Ms X to send it additional documents to confirm her identify. In its complaint response in September 2024, the Council said it had not received these documents, and that was why her housing register application had not been made “live”. It noted Ms X had provided receipts for providing some documents at a One Stop shop, but these could not be traced. It apologised for its delay in handling the application and responding to her complaint and paid her £150 to remedy this.
8. Council records show Ms X provided further documents in October 2024. But the Council says it has not received a copy of Ms X’s tenancy and, if not included in the tenancy, confirmation of the number of bedrooms she currently has. Until it has received all the information requested, it cannot complete the application process.

My assessment

9. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events complained about. Ms X complained to us in November 2025 about events from 2021. There is no evidence to show Ms X could not have complained to us earlier and no good reason to consider the period prior to October 2024 now.
10. Even if there are good reasons for the delay in complaining to us, it would not be possible, given the lapse of time, for us to establish the Council had received the documents prior to October 2024. Further the Council has apologised and made a payment to remedy its delays so it is unlikely further investigation would add to the Council’s response in September 2024.
11. The Council has explained to us the steps it has taken to address its backlog by late 2025, so I am satisfied no further service improvements are needed.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman