Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s housing register decision. This is because a complaint about that decision is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

The complaint

1. Miss X said the Council failed to properly consider her and her son’s circumstances when it said she was not eligible to join its housing register. Ms X now wants the Council to backdate her eligibility on her new housing register application.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to refuse to allow her to join its housing register. The evidence shows the Council notified this decision to Miss X in late 2024. Miss X complained to the Council about this in September 2026 and the Council declined to investigate her complaint. Miss X then came to us.
6. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they made a complaint to the Council. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year of being aware of the matter they are unhappy with.
7. I acknowledge Miss X’s stated reasons for why she was not aware of how she could escalate matters at the time, but I am not satisfied these are sufficient good reasons the set aside the expectation in law, that we do not investigate late complaints. Therefore, I will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman