Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the suitability of temporary accommodation. This complaint which received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to make offers of alternative temporary accommodation since she refused an offer in 2020. She says she believes the Council has ceased to consider her for alternative accommodation because she has had no offers since 2020.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X was accepted by the Council and placed in temporary accommodation in June 2020. She was dissatisfied with the accommodation and asked to be moved. The Council offered her a different property in the same year but Ms X refused it because she said it was also unsuitable. She received no further offers and after emailing and calling the Council in January to April 2022, and not receiving a response, she made a formal complaint.
6. The Council replied in 2022 and told her that following the 2020 offer she was still on the list for a move but that no suitable vacancies had occurred due to the demand for temporary accommodation from newly homeless families. Ms X did not ask for a statutory review of suitability of temporary accommodation in this period.
7. Ms X complained to us in November 2023 about the failure to make any further offers. This was outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints. She could have complained to us anytime after her first enquires about offers in early 2022. I have seen no evidence to suggest that she could not have complained to us sooner.
8. We will not investigate this complaint now. Ms X may still be able to ask for a statutory review of suitability, although the Council inspected the property in 2023 and concluded that it was reasonable for her to occupy.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the suitability of temporary accommodation. This complaint which received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Ms X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman