London Borough of Camden (25 015 799)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that Mr X did not qualify to join the housing register. This is because the complaint is late.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council:
- Wrongly closed his housing applications in 2020 and 2023; and
- Failed to make reasonable adjustments for his disability at that time, which prevented him engaging fully with the application process.
- Mr X wants the Council to make adjustments to how it communicates with him going forward, review his housing applications and pay him a financial remedy.
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 twelve months to complain to us about something a council 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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained in September 2025 that he disagreed with the Council’s decisions to refuse his housing register applications in 2020 and 2023.
- Mr X said the Council had wrongly interpreted the law and its allocations policy. He also said the Council wrongly closed his applications due to lack of contact. However, Mr X said the reason for his lack of contact was because the Council failed to make the reasonable adjustments required for him to communicate.
- The events Mr X complained of happened several years ago and there is no good reason I can see that Mr X did not complain to us about these matters sooner. As this complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion, we will not investigate this complaint further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and no good reasons have been provided for not complaining to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman