Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s mishandling of his homelessness and housing applications. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate these matters.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council mishandled his homelessness and housing applications. Specifically, he says he was not advised of the implications moving out of the area would have on his application to the Council’s Housing Register.
2. Mr X was then taken off the Housing Register because he did not have the required 10 years’ continuous residence in the area. Mr X says he cannot now apply for social housing because of the failure to advise him properly.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. In particular the Act says 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 an authority has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D).

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr X provided.
6. I gave Mr X and the Council the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered the comments received before making this final decision.

Back to top

What I found

7. In 2015, Mr X was evicted from his property. At this point, Mr X had lived continuously in Hillingdon for over 10 years. The Council accepted Mr X as homeless and he applied to go on the Council’s Housing Register. He decided to find his own accommodation while waiting for social housing.
8. For a few months in 2015 and 2016 Mr X moved to a neighbouring borough. He says he checked beforehand with the Council whether such a move would be allowed and says his case officer told him it would. Before moving, Mr X gave the Council his new address for correspondence but the Council did not amend its records.
9. The Council accepted Mr X on to its Housing Register in 2016. By then he had moved back into the Council’s area but the team dealing with his housing application had never recorded his out of area address.
10. In 2017 the Council investigated further where Mr X had lived and realised he had been out of the area in 2015 and 2016. The Council told him he was not qualified to be on the Housing Register because he had not lived in the Council’s area continuously for 10 years or more.
11. Mr X appealed against the decision. In July 2017 the Council refused the appeal and said he could take things further by way of judicial review or complaining to the Local Government Ombudsman.
12. Mr X then went to a solicitor who made a new homeless application for him and Mr X got his current accommodation. Mr X thought the solicitor was also appealing against his disqualification from the Housing Register. He complained about the solicitor to the Legal Ombudsman who said the only instructions Mr X gave the solicitor were to make a homeless application.
13. Mr X then complained to us.

Back to top

Analysis

14. We have discretion to investigate late complaints if there are good reasons to do so. On current evidence I have decided not to exercise discretion in this case because:
• Mr X was aware of the decision to disqualify him from the Housing Register in 2017. In mid 2017 the Council reviewed its decision and told him he could complain to us. We would expect Mr X to have complained to us within
  12 months of the Council telling him he could.
• Mr X went to a solicitor and then the Legal Ombudsman but not about the events in 2015 he now complains to us about.
• The key events in Mr X’s complaint happened so long ago it is now almost impossible for us to get all the evidence we would need to make a robust decision about whether the Council acted with fault. Without that, we cannot achieve a meaningful remedy for Mr X.

Back to top

Final decision

15. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate now.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman