Summary: We have discontinued our investigation into Miss X’s complaint about how the Council responded to her request for rehousing. That is because most of her complaint is out of jurisdiction as she has started legal action. We cannot make a finding on her remaining complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to rehouse her after she contacted it about serious disrepair at her property, including problems with drainage and a rat infestation. Additionally, she said the Environmental Health Service had failed to take remedial action after she told it about the drainage problems and rat infestation.
2. Miss X says the current living environment was affecting her and her son’s physical and mental health.

Back to top

What I have investigated

3. I have investigated how the Council considered Miss X’s homelessness request. The reasons for not investigating the other parts of her complaint are set out at the end of this decision statement.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
6. 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)
7. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I discussed the complaint with Miss X.
9. I considered information provided by the Council including Miss X’s housing records and its complaint correspondence.
10. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Homelessness

11. If a council has ‘reason to believe’ someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness, it must take a homelessness application and make inquiries. The threshold for taking an application is low. The person does not have to complete a specific form or approach a particular council department.
12. A council can assess a person as homeless if it considers it is not reasonable for them to continue to occupy their existing accommodation.

What happened

13. Miss X moved into a Council tenancy through mutual exchange in October 2020.
14. The case records show that since November 2020, Miss X contacted the Council on a regular basis about repairs needed to her property. The Council responded to those reports.
15. Miss X said she had completed a priority housing application form and given it to the Council, but it had lost it.
16. At the start of 2021, Miss X began legal action against the Council. She said the property was in a state of disrepair and Environmental Health had failed to properly respond to an alleged rat infestation.
17. Miss X emailed the Council’s Housing Service in April 2021. She said she needed to move out because it was not safe for her to stay in her house. She did not provide any contact details in that email or information about the problems.
18. The Council responded and asked for additional information. Following that, Miss X telephoned the Council. In that conversation, Miss X told the Council she was having issues with rats and blocked drains. She said that Environmental Health knew, and that Pest Control intended to visit. She said she had reported the issue with the drains to the water company responsible.
19. Miss X telephoned the Council’s Housing Service later that month to complain. She said she had rats under her floorboards and that meant she was having to share a bedroom with her son. The Council responded to that complaint at the start of May 2021. It said that Pest Control had found no evidence of a rat infestation.
20. Miss X contacted the Council mid-June and said she intended to move in with her mother. She made an application for rehousing to a different local authority area and ended her tenancy with the Council in July 2021.

My findings

21. Miss X said she had made a housing application to the Council, but it had lost her forms. She also said she had tried to make a homelessness application over the telephone, but the Council refused to accept it. There is nothing in Miss X’s complaint to the Council in April 2021 saying she was complaining about it refusing to accept a homelessness application. Additionally, I can see no evidence in the Council’s case records that Miss X asked to make a homelessness application, or that the Council refused to accept that application.
22. As there is no evidence in the Council’s case records to support Miss X’s version of events and as I was not present, I cannot confirm what the Council said. As I cannot make a robust finding on this part of Miss X’s complaint, I will not investigate it further.
23. Miss X has started legal action about how the Council dealt with her reports of disrepair to her property and how Environmental Health dealt with an alleged rat infestation. Any decision the Council made about rehousing Miss X because of the state of disrepair is inextricably linked to the matters being considered by the Court therefore is outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
24. Given the above, I have discontinued my investigation as:
• I am unable to make a finding on Miss X’s complaint to the Ombudsman; and
• the scope of what I can investigate is restricted because of the legal action Miss X has taken against the Council.

Back to top

Final decision

25. I have discontinued my investigation as most of Miss X’s complaint is outside our jurisdiction, and I cannot come to a robust finding about her complaint that the Council refused to accept a homelessness application.

Back to top

Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

26. I have not investigated Miss X’s complaint about the actions of Environmental Health. Miss X has started legal action against the Council for breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 therefore this is outside of our jurisdiction.
27. Complaints about the Council as a social housing provider are investigated by the Housing Ombudsman. Therefore, Miss X’s complaints about the state of disrepair to the property are outside of our jurisdiction. Additionally, Miss X is taking court action in respect to the property’s condition.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman