Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to provide a long-term housing solution for Miss X. This is because it relates to the Council's actions as a registered social housing provider.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that over the past 3 and a half years the Council has failed to provide a long-term housing solution for her family. She says she has had to repeatedly raise concerns and asked several times for more suitable accommodation. She says this has had a significant impact on her and her family. Miss X wants to be moved to a different property.

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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 complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council moved Miss X to temporary decant accommodation in June 2023 so it could carry out works to her home. In its response to Miss X’s complaint, the Council advised her that she could contact the Housing Ombudsman Service if she remained dissatisfied.
7. Miss X’s complaint concerns the Council’s management of her social housing as a registered social housing provider. It therefore falls within the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman Service, and the law prevents us from investigating it. It is open to Miss X to raise her complaint with the Housing Ombudsman Service.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it relates to the Council's actions as a registered social housing provider

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman