Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his housing register applications and the advice it gave him in the past. This is because part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision about his housing application.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council:
1. Failed to activate or verify his housing register application for nearly ten years. He also says it gave him misleading advice about bidding for properties and advised him to rent privately temporarily. He says this resulted in seven years of unaffordable private renting.
2. Was non-responsive over several years and failed to provide meaningful support despite his vulnerabilities.
3. Decided he was not eligible to join its housing register and had no priority housing need following a review of his recent housing application.
2. Mr X says this caused significant financial hardship, a continuing risk of homelessness, and affected his well-being and opportunities to secure social housing. He wants the Council to review his case, pay compensation and make service improvements to prevent similar issues in future.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate parts (a) and (b) of Mr X’s complaint because it is late. Mr X’s complaint dates from his 2018 housing application and the advice he was given about private renting. During the years that followed, Mr X was aware of his housing circumstances and that he had not secured social housing. Therefore, he was aware of the matters he now complains about more than 12 months before he approached the Ombudsman in January 2026.
9. I have considered whether there are good reasons to exercise discretion and investigate the complaint despite the delay. I have seen no evidence of circumstances that prevented Mr X from bringing his complaint to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the issues. Therefore, I do not consider there are grounds to exercise discretion.
10. In December 2025, Mr X requested a review of his most recent housing application. The Council considered the information Mr X provided, his housing applications and its housing allocation policy. It decided Mr X was not eligible to join the housing register because he did not have a recognised housing need under its priority bands and had not provided enough evidence to show he was the main carer for his child. It also signposted Mr X to its Homelessness Prevention and Assessment Service to help address any continuing risk of homelessness or eviction.
11. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision because someone disagrees with it. Instead, we consider whether the organisation followed the correct process in reaching its decision. Where there is no evidence of fault in that process, we cannot question the merits of the decision itself. The available evidence shows the Council considered the information Mr X provided, took account of its housing allocation policy and explained the reasons for its decision. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision on his housing application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman