• The complaint
• The Ombudsman’s role and powers
• How I considered this complaint
• My assessment
• Final decision

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an alleged failure by the Council to properly consider the complainant’s circumstances before ending its duty to help relieve her homelessness. This is because the subject matter of the complainant’s complaint carries a right of appeal to county court which she has been informed of and could reasonably exercise.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Mr Z) complains on behalf of Miss X who the Council previously assessed as being homeless. The Council accepted a duty to support her with securing suitable accommodation. The Council assisted Miss X in securing a tenancy for a property and it has since ended its legal duty to relieve her homelessness. However, Mr Z complains the current property is unaffordable for Miss X and so in not suitable. He disagrees with the Council’s decision and says it has failed to consider the issue of affordability before ending the duty.
2. In summary, Mr Z says the Council’s decision means Miss X is struggling financially. He also says the decision has caused her distress, anxiety and uncertainty. As a desired outcome, Mr X wants the Council to offer her suitable accommodation which can provide a longer term solution.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

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

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My assessment

5. Certain decisions on homelessness can be challenged by the complainant seeking a review and then exercising their right of appeal to county court on a point of law. This includes whether an application is homeless and eligible for assistance. In these circumstances, the council owe a relief duty to assist in helping the applicant secure accommodation. Normally we would not investigate complaints about these decisions where these review and appeal rights apply, as long as we are sure the complainant has been properly informed about their rights and the authority has acted on any review request made so far.
6. The decision by the Council to end the relief duty carries a right of review, as well as an appeal right to county court in accordance with s204 of the Housing Act 1996 once a review decision has been made. The appeal right is referred to as the statutory appeals procedure. Miss X requested a review of the Council’s decision to end the relief duty on the basis of the property secured not being suitable for reasons of affordability. The Council has responded to the review and maintained its decision to end the duty. This means Miss X can now challenge the decision using the statutory appeals procedure. The Council has informed Miss X of her rights to challenge its decision and I see no exceptional reason why she cannot exercise this appeal right. We therefore have no legal jurisdiction to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint because the subject matter of the complaint carries a right of review and appeal to the county court she has been informed of and could reasonably exercise.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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