Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council failed to tell her about suitable social housing that had become available. The Council has upheld the complaint and provided a suitable remedy. Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to offer her properties suitable for her family’s needs. She said that meant she had missed out on properties and lived in overcrowded housing for longer than necessary. She said since responding to her complaint, the Council had offered a house that was too small. She said it had also failed to notify her about new build properties that had become available.

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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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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 the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X has been on the Council’s housing register since 2021. She requires a larger property to accommodate her family’s needs. In May 2025, she complained to the Council that it had failed to tell her about a suitable property becoming available in January 2025. She also said it had failed to respond to her communication.
8. In the Council’s complaint response, it set out all the larger properties it had allocated since 2022. It said some of these were adapted, so not suitable for Miss X’s needs and that others were offered to families in temporary accommodation who needed urgent rehousing. It said it had offered Miss X five properties and set out her reasons for refusing these. The Council accepted it had not offered Miss X the property in January 2025. It said the housing officer made that decision based on her previous refusals. The Council said although it made that decision in good faith, it should have given Miss X the opportunity to decide on the property suitability herself. It apologised for that and offered her a symbolic payment of £250. It also confirmed it would notify her of all four-bedroomed properties becoming available.
9. The Council said it had responded to most of Miss X’s contact but accepted it had not responded to all. It said that was because of the volume of communication and as it had previously responded to the same issues. It apologised if Miss X felt upset by the tone of any communication.
10. Although Miss X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s response, we will not investigate. Firstly, Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in August 2025. Therefore, we any complains about the Council’s actions before August 2024 are late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion and consider these now.
11. The Council has accepted it should have offered Miss X the available property in January 2025 and apologised and offered a financial remedy for not doing this. Further investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome.
12. If Miss X is dissatisfied with any subsequent offers of property or believes the Council has failed to notify her about new builds becoming available, she would need to raise these matters with the Council before we could consider them. That is because these events have happened since the Council’s complaint response, and it has not had an opportunity to respond to these new concerns.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has upheld it and provided a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman