Summary: Mr X complained on behalf of his mother about the way the Council had dealt with her homelessness. We have ended our investigation. This is because we have already considered some of the matters, others are late or there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigation or nothing further we can achieve, or for a court to consider.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained on behalf of his mother Mrs Z, that the Council:
1. Failed to accept a homelessness duty to Mrs Z and accommodate her in 2022 which caused her to incur court costs.
2. Failed to protect Mrs Z’s personal belongings when she became homeless so she incurred storage and moving costs in 2023 and 2024 and the Council failed to deal with her complaint.
3. Failed to deal with Mrs Z’s application for the Household Support Fund in December 2023 and the complaint she made about this matter in 2025 which caused financial loss to her.
4. Caused damage to Mrs Z’s belongings due to disrepair in her accommodation.
5. Wrongly discharged the main housing duty on 1 September 2025 as it wrongly considered the offer of alternative temporary accommodation was suitable and then reinstated the main housing duty. This caused distress to Mrs Z.
6. Ignored Mrs Z’s request of 29 October 2024 for a direct offer of housing.
7. Locked Mrs Z out of her housing register account in 2024/25 so she was unable to bid on properties for a period of time and may have missed a suitable offer.
8. Failed to properly assess Mrs Z’s housing needs in 2023 and recognise she requires at least three bedrooms, so she has missed offers of housing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
3. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• it is a matter we have already considered, or
• we are satisfied the complainant could reasonably be expected to have complained sooner, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have ended my investigation into the complaint. I have set out the reasons for this in the rest of this statement.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

9. I have summarised the key events. This is not meant to describe everything that happened.

Background

10. Mrs Z contacted the Council in 2022 as she was at risk of being made homeless. She also applied to be on the Council’s housing register.
11. The Council placed Mrs Z on the housing register and accepted the main housing duty in 2023. It placed Mrs Z and her family into temporary accommodation. Mr X said this accommodation was not suitable and there was also a dispute about Mrs Z’s priority on the housing register. The Council placed Mrs Z into new temporary accommodation in May 2024.
12. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in July 2024 (our case 24004711). In February 2025, we decided the complaint about the way the homeless application had been dealt with in 2022 was too late for us to investigate. We found Mrs Z had been in unsuitable accommodation from September to November 2023 and the Council agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs Z to remedy that.
13. Mr X complained again to the Ombudsman in February 2025 (our case 24019409). We issued a decision in August 2025 that Mrs Z had been in unsuitable accommodation in 2024. The Council agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs Z to remedy that.

Mr X’s complaint

14. In April 2025, Mr X complained to the Council about the way it had dealt with Mrs Z’s homelessness and that it had not offered Mrs Z interim accommodation in 2022. The Council responded on 19 May 2025, it did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
15. The Council’s final complaint response of 31 July 2025 said the risk of homelessness in 2022 had been addressed with a personal housing plan. There was no evidence linking injuries Mrs Z had suffered in her previous accommodation to the Council’s actions or inaction. Mrs Z’s medical evidence had been independently assessed independently and taken into account when considering accommodation.
16. Mr X came back to us in September 2025 raising a number of other matters. I have dealt with each of his complaints below.

(a) Failed to accept a homelessness duty to Mrs Z and accommodate her in 2022 which caused her to incur court costs.

17. We have already decided in our previous case that we will not investigate.

(b) Failed to protect Mrs Z’s personal belongings when she became homeless so she incurred storage and moving costs in 2023 and 2024 and the Council failed to deal with her complaint.

18. The Council says it did not receive any request for storage costs in 2023 or 2024. There is therefore insufficient evidence of fault for us to investigate.
19. In addition, I am satisfied it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have complained to us sooner about this. I have considered that Mrs Z is vulnerable but in 2024 the family asked the Council to review the suitability of her accommodation and came to the Ombudsman. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

(c) Failed to deal with Mrs Z’s application for the Household Support Fund in December 2023 and the complaint she made about this matter in 2025 which caused financial loss to her.

20. Mrs Z applied for the fund (which closed in March 2024) in December 2023. The Council says Mrs Z’s arrears were written off in June 2025, she is in receipt of full housing benefit though the claim had been suspended awaiting some information from Mrs Z. I have considered that Mrs Z is vulnerable but I am satisfied it would have been reasonable for Mr X to have complained to us sooner about this. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

(d) Caused damage to Mrs Z’s belongings due to disrepair in her accommodation.

21. Mr X says Mrs Z’s belongings were damaged by damp in the property she moved into in 2024. Mrs Z has the right to make an insurance claim against the Council and go to court about the damage to her property. I am satisfied the court is best placed to decide the responsibility for the damage and loss, this is not something the Ombudsman could determine. In addition, we have already considered a complaint about the suitability of Mrs Z’s accommodation in 2024. As explained in paragraph 4 we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court so I will not investigate.

(e) Wrongly discharged the main housing duty on 1 September 2025 as it wrongly considered the offer of alternative temporary accommodation was suitable and then reinstated the main housing duty. This caused distress to Mrs Z.

22. The Council said it ended the main housing duty after Mrs Z refused an offer of accommodation. But an updated suitability assessment identified that Mrs Z’s daughter had had a separate application, under which the Council had provided private sector accommodation in 2023. As a result of this discrepancy in the household composition, the officer withdrew the discharge-of-duty decision on 19 September. A fresh suitability assessment was requested, along with written confirmation from Mrs Z of her current household members, the reasons her daughter and granddaughter wish to join her application, and an explanation of what happened to the property previously offered to her daughter. Mrs Z’s Housing Register application remains active. She is currently assessed for a 2-bedroom property, based on her confirmation that she is living with her son. My view is there is not enough evidence of fault or injustice for us to investigate. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

(f) Ignored Mrs Z’s request of 29 October 2024 for a direct offer of housing.

23. The outcome of our previous investigation was that the Council remedied the injustice of being in unsuitable accommodation in 2024. I will therefore not investigate as further investigation would not lead to a different outcome and any injustice was already remedied. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

(g) Locked Mrs Z out of her housing register account in 2024/25 so she was unable to bid on properties for a period of time and may have missed a suitable offer.

24. The Council set up a new housing register system and asked applicants to re-register on it by 31 May 2025. Mr X has sent evidence the family initially had difficulties doing this due to technical problems but re-registered Mrs Z’s housing application on 13 April 2025. The system went live in October 2025. My view is there is not enough evidence of fault or injustice for us to investigate. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

(h) Failed to properly assess Mrs Z’s housing need in 2023 and recognise she requires at least three bedrooms, so she has missed offers of housing.

25. The Council says Mrs Z was staying with her son but wanted her daughter and granddaughter to be added to her housing application, which would mean she would need at least three bedrooms. Mr X says the daughter and granddaughter were on the original application in 2022 but the Council refused to include them.
26. We have already said in our previous case that we will not investigate the 2022 application and we have already made findings about the housing register banding and suitability of temporary accommodation. We will not re-investigate. I am therefore exercising my discretion not to investigate, as set out in paragraph 3.

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Decision

27. I have ended my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman