Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s temporary accommodation and banding on the housing register. This is because much of the complaint is late and the parts of the complaint that are in time do not warrant further investigation as there is no worthwhile outcome we can achieve.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has:
• placed her in unsuitable temporary accommodation since 2023;
• wrongly assessed her as only needing a studio property on its housing register, when she requires a one-bedroom property; and
• failed to ensure a senior officer carried out the reassessment of her banding.
2. Ms X said the Council’s faults have caused her significant distress and worsened her health conditions. Ms X seeks a financial remedy and a changed decision on her banding and bedroom need.

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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 twelve 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 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. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (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 and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that she has been living in unsuitable temporary accommodation since March 2023. Ms X did not complain to the Ombudsman about this until October 2025 and there is no good reason Ms X did not bring a complaint about this sooner. This part of the complaint is now late.
8. I have considered events, including Ms X’s complaints regarding temporary accommodation, in the twelve month period before she approached the Ombudsman. This is in line with our role and powers, as set out in paragraph three.
9. Ms X was living in temporary accommodation in August 2025, when she asked the Council to reassess her priority banding on the housing register. Ms X also asked the Council to review her assessed bedroom need. The Council said Ms X only needed a studio property but Ms X said due to her medical conditions, she needed a one-bedroom property.
10. Later that month, Ms X also made a complaint to the Council. She said the temporary accommodation she was living in was unsuitable for her medical needs because of the shared facilities and because she was at risk of harm from other residents.
11. The Council moved Ms X to alternative temporary accommodation within a few weeks of receiving her complaint. The following month it reviewed her priority banding and bedroom need on its housing register. It decided her banding was correct and a studio was still suitable.
12. Ms X complained again as she was unhappy with the decision. Ms X said the review decision had been made by the same officer who made the original decision regarding her banding, which was a conflict of interest. The Council did not uphold Ms X’s complaints.
13. Within the period I have considered, the Council offered Ms X alternative temporary accommodation promptly after she complained it was unsuitable. There is no more worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation into this part of the complaint.
14. The review of Ms X’s banding was carried out by a different officer to the one who made the original decision. The reviewer explained their decision clearly and in line with its allocations policy. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating this complaint further.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is in part late and in part, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable through further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman