Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of the complainant’s housing register applications, and her later right to buy (RTB) application. This is primarily because:

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her application to join the housing register in 2014, and her re-application in 2022. She also complains about the Council’s handling of her right to buy (RTB) application in late-2024.

Back to top

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 can 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. So, we do not start an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

4. And 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 also 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)
6. Finally, as a publicly funded body we must be careful how we use our resources. We conduct proportionate assessments; closing cases when we consider we have enough evidence to make a sound decision. This means we do not try to answer every single question a complainant may have about what the organisation did.
7. Overall, it is our decision whether to start an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended).

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I considered:
• information provided by Mrs X and the Council, which included the Council’s complaint responses.
• the Council’s housing allocation policy.
• the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

9. The 12-month time restriction detailed in paragraph 4 above appears to apply to any parts of Mrs X’s complaint about what the Council did or did not tell her (particularly about selling her own property) when she first applied to join the housing register and accepted a tenancy (between 2014 and 2017). This time restriction would also apply to any parts of the complaint about the Council’s assessment of her housing need and priority she was when she re-applied to the housing register in 2022. Mrs X did not contact the Ombudsman until June 2025. I do not consider there are sufficient grounds to exercise discretion to investigate these ‘late’ issues now.
10. And even if this time restriction did not apply, we would exercise our general discretion not to investigate the events during, and prior to, 2017. This is because any investigation would be impeded by the passage of time. We are unlikely to be able to gather sufficient evidence to reach a sound judgement, and even if some evidence is available, we would need to be particularly careful to ensure it is reliable, and provides a full picture. And in many cases, we cannot apply current standards, guidance, or professional expectations to historical situations. Given these difficulties, there is no realistic prospect of reaching a sound decision about events which occurred around a decade ago.
11. Also, I have seen no evidence of fault in the way the Council assessed Mrs X’s re-application in 2022. Its decision was based on an assessment of her situation/circumstances at that particular time, rather than any information/records (or lack of) about her medical conditions in 2014. So, even if the 12-month time restriction did not apply, we would still not investigate this part of the complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
12. With regard to Mrs X’s more recent RTB application, I understand this was granted upon review in May 2025. If she thinks the valuation of the property should be reduced, to take into account improvements she paid for, she has a right of appeal to the District Valuer. The District Valuer is the appropriate body to decide any dispute about the value of Ms X’s home, so we would not investigate this part of the complaint either.
13. And with reference to paragraph 5 above, we have no power to consider any part of the complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s succession of the property. This is because the law says we cannot investigate any complaint about a council acting as a landlord and carrying out housing management functions.

Back to top

Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint primarily because:
• some parts are late, and it is reasonable to expect her to have contacted us sooner, and,
• there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the Council assessed her 2022 housing register application, and,
• the District Valuer is better placed to consider any dispute about the valuation of the property under the RTB process.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman