Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council making an unsuitable offer of accommodation to a homeless applicant and then subsequently taking court action for possession of her temporary accommodation. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council making her an unsuitable direct offer of accommodation in 2022 when she was under its homelessness duty. She refused the offer and the Council discharged its homeless duty to her and subsequently obtained a possession order to evict her from her temporary accommodation. She says the rejection of her review of suitability was unfair and that she will be made homeless again when she is evicted.

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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)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X says she was in temporary accommodation from 2020 when the Council accepted the full homelessness duty to her. In December she was offered a direct offer of council accommodation in one of the areas which she had put as a preference. She refused the offer because she was unhappy with the fact it was upstairs and there was no parking nearby and it had a balcony which she believes is unsuitable for small children.
7. The Council says it advised her that it was likely to discharge its duty to her if she refused a reasonable offer of accommodation. In December 2022 she submitted a statutory review of suitability request and the Council gave its provisional response in February 2023. The decision was that the property offered met her housing needs and was suitable. Miss X continued to refuse the offer and the Council discharged its homeless duty in March 2023 when it concluded the review.
8. The Council commenced possession proceedings in June 2023 and subsequently obtained a possession order and a bailiff warrant for eviction from the courts.
9. We will not investigate this complaint about the direct offer and discharge of homelessness duty because this took place outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
10. We have some discretion to consider older complaints but in this case we would have advised Miss X to use her right of review and appeal to the courts over the Council’s actions had she complained within 12 months.
11. We cannot investigate the Council’s possession proceedings within the past 12 months because we have no jurisdiction not investigate matters subject to court action.

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Final decision

12. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council making an unsuitable offer of accommodation to a homeless applicant and then subsequently taking court action for possession of her temporary accommodation. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate matters which have been subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman