Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s responses to homeless applications since 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to properly assess homeless applications which she made on five occasions in 2022 and 2023. She says the Council failed to deal with her case under the homelessness Prevention nor Relief duties at the time when she received notices from her landlord.

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

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My assessment

5. Ms X says she made five homeless applications to the Council from 2022 following s.21 possession notices from her landlord. She says the Council failed to provide her with proper advice or interim accommodation under the Prevention and Relief duties under the Housing Act 1996 Part 7.
6. We will normally only consider complaint which have been made to us within 12 months of the complainant becoming aware of the Council’s claimed fault. In this case the homelessness presentations were outside 12 months and some were more than 2 years ago.
7. 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.
8. Ms X also complained about the Council only offering her bed and breakfast interim accommodation when it accepted her final application in 2024. She says this was not suitable accommodation and refused to accept it. The Council later offered her self-contained accommodation.
9. The Homelessness (Suitability of Accommodation Order 2003) says Bed and Breakfast is not suitable for households with “family commitments”. The Order defines this as a household that includes a dependent child or a pregnant woman.  Where no other accommodation is available, the authority may place a family in B&B as a last resort but only for a maximum of six weeks.
10. We would not normally be critical of a Council using this accommodation for less than six weeks. In this case Ms X did not take up the accommodation offered and she remained in her existing accommodation until more suitable was offered. I do not find any fault in this aspect of the complaint.

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Final decision

11. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s responses to homeless applications since 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman