Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council allocated an unsuitable property to her and its tenancy sustainment team and its housing service failed to resolve the issues she raised. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about social housing tenancy management and I have decided not to exercise discretion to investigate her late housing allocation complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss B, complained that the Council allocated an unsuitable property to her and its tenancy sustainment team and its housing service failed to resolve the issues she raised which she said prevented her from living there permanently.

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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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Miss B provided, her complaints to the Council and the Council’s responses to her complaints. I have given Miss B an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. The Council runs a choice-based lettings system in its area. If they qualify to do so, eligible applicants on the Council’s Housing Register can bid for properties which become available for letting. In 2016 Miss B made a successful bid for a vacant property. But she then told the Council about a series of issues which meant she was not living in the property on a permanent basis.
7. We cannot consider Miss B’s complaint about the Council’s housing and tenancy sustainment service after she had accepted her tenancy. That is because the property is part of the Council’s stock of social housing and we cannot investigate complaints about social housing tenancy management. In its final response to Miss B’s complaint in 2017 the Council said she could contact the Housing Ombudsman.
8. We can consider complaints about the Council’s allocation of its housing. But Miss B is complaining about the Council’s allocation of its housing more than three years ago. So this part of her complaint is late. We can investigate late complaints if there are good reasons to do so. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion to consider Miss B’s complaint because:

• she has been aware of the issues with the property from 2016 and 2017
• the Council told her in 2017 she could bring her complaint to us and the Housing Ombudsman
• it was reasonable to expect her to bring her complaint to us in 2017 rather than leaving it until 2019.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about social housing tenancy management and I have decided not to exercise discretion to investigate her late housing allocation complaint.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman