Summary: We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint about the Council ending the main housing duty as it was reasonable to expect Ms Y to have requested a review of the decision within the required timescale. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint about the delay in making an offer of permanent accommodation as there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains on behalf of Ms Y. She complains that the Council:

• Attempted to evict Ms Y and her family from temporary accommodation in 2021.
• Wrongly discharged the main housing duty and told Ms Y to leave her temporary accommodation despite her being vulnerable.
• Failed to offer suitable permanent accommodation to Ms Y despite her living in temporary accommodation for a number of years.

2. Ms X says that as a result Ms Y suffered from significant ill health and the Council’s actions affected the family’s mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council tried to evict Ms Y from temporary accommodation in 2021. We have previously considered this complaint and issued a final decision. We cannot consider it again.
8. Ms Y lived in temporary accommodation for a number of years. In early 2025, the Council offered permanent accommodation to Ms Y. She did not accept the offer as she considered it to be unsuitable. The Council wrote to Ms Y notifying her that it would end the main housing duty as she had refused an offer of suitable accommodation. The Council also asked Ms Y to leave the temporary accommodation.
9. Ms X made a complaint to the Council on Ms Y’s behalf. She said Ms Y did not know the Council had ended its main housing duty. The Council explained that it properly notified Ms Y of its decision to end the main housing duty as it had sent the notification to the email address on file. This was Ms X’s email address. The letter notified Ms Y of her right to request a review of the decision within 21 days.
10. Ms X submitted a request for a review, but this was outside the 21 day timescale in which to request a review. The Council notified Ms X that it could not accept the review request as it was submitted four weeks outside the deadline.
11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to end the main housing duty to Ms Y and asking her to leave her temporary accommodation. Ms Y had the right to seek a review of the suitability of the accommodation offered and the Council’s decision to end the main housing duty. The Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaints show it sent the notification letter to the correct email address and notified Ms Y of her right to seek a review. It is therefore reasonable to expect Ms Y, or Ms X on her behalf, to have requested a review within the 21 day timescale.
12. The Council considered Ms X’s late review request and explained why it would not accept it. As the Council considered whether to accept a late request, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.
13. Ms X complained that the Council has not made a suitable offer of permanent accommodation for over 11 years. We will not investigate how the Council identified properties for Ms Y over an 11 year period as the complaint is late and it was open to Ms Y to complain about this matter sooner. So, there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to look at the events that are more than 12 months old. We will not investigate if there was any delay in the Council offering permanent accommodation to Ms X in the last 12 months as there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council offered a property to Ms Y in early January 2025. We are mindful Ms Y considered the offer to be unsuitable. But, as explained above, it was reasonable for her to have requested a review of the suitability of the offer.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint about the Council ending the main housing duty and asking her to leave her temporary accommodation as Ms Y had the right to request a review of the decision. We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint about the delay in making an offer of permanent accommodation as there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman