West Northamptonshire Council (25 005 906)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 03 Oct 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s offers of temporary accommodation under its homelessness duty in 2023. 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
- Mr X says he was placed in unsuitable temporary accommodation at different locations in 2023 following his homelessness application. As a result, he says he suffered physical problems because of his disabilities and abuse from the owner of one property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says the accommodation which the Council placed him in during 2023 was not suitable for his needs as a homeless person. He had difficulty accessing parts of the accommodation due to his disabilities and suffered abuse from a landlord.
- He complained to the Council in February 2024 and it responded to his complaint in March that year. He did not complain to us until June 2025 which is outside the 12-month period for receiving complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
- The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished 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.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s offers of temporary accommodation under its homelessness duty in 2023. 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.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman