Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about homelessness and housing matters. The law prevents us considering the management of Mr X’s Council tenancy. Other points are late or concern matters where Mr X could reasonably have used his rights to seek a review of the suitability of accommodation and, if necessary, to go to the county court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about matters related to his homelessness and to his Council tenancy. He says these matters meant he was in unsuitable accommodation, the Council took more money than it should for his rent, and his property is not in proper repair.

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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)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and a copy of a letter from the Council to Mr X dated 25 February 2022 that the Council sent us.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. I understand Mr X was homeless in 2020. The Council provided temporary accommodation and then, in April 2020, it gave Mr X a secure tenancy of a Council property.
9. Mr X complains the Council took over 56 days to offer the accommodation. This concerns a period ending in April 2020, so the restriction in paragraph 4 applies. Mr X would have known at the time how long he waited for the accommodation. He has complained to us in the past, so knows how to do so. I do not see good reason to accept a late complaint about this point now. Nor could we necessarily achieve anything meaningful on this point now, around two years after the events.
10. Mr X told us he was unhappy with hostel accommodation he had. That would have been before the long-term Council tenancy began in April 2020. So, again, the restriction in paragraph 4 applies. I do not see good reason to accept a late complaint about this now.
11. Also, this point appears to concern temporary accommodation the Council arranged before offering Mr X a Council tenancy. If Mr X considered the temporary accommodation unsuitable, he would have had the right to ask the Council to review the accommodation’s suitability. If he remained dissatisfied, he could have gone to the county court on a point of law. So the restriction in paragraph 5 would apply. The law expressly provides this route to decide disputes about the suitability of temporary accommodation and longer-term accommodation offered to relieve homelessness. The court can take evidence on oath and, if it sees fit, can overturn the Council’s decision, neither of which the Ombudsman can do. I do not consider it unreasonable to expect Mr X to have used his review and court appeal rights, with legal assistance or help from an advocate if necessary, if he thought the accommodation was unsuitable.
12. Even if it was not reasonable to expect Mr X to have done so, we might not be able to reach a clear enough view now about any arguments on suitability around two years after the events. It is also unlikely we could achieve anything significant for Mr X on this point now, as the Council provided different accommodation almost two years ago.
13. Mr X complains of various matters related to his Council tenancy, including: a lack of information at the start of the tenancy; the date on his tenancy agreement; matters related to the rent and the Council’s action on rent arrears, including getting deductions from his benefit; and the property’s state of repair, including the shower and bathroom. These points all concern the Council’s management of its social housing in its capacity as a registered provider of social housing. The law prevents us considering these points, as paragraph 3 explained.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because matters related to his Council housing tenancy are outside the Ombudsman’s powers. The complaints about the Council’s homelessness service and temporary accommodation are late. If Mr X considered any offer of accommodation unsuitable, he could reasonably have used his rights to request a review and, if necessary, to apply to the county court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman