Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to proprly consider her homeless applciation in 2023, and that it did not take reasonable steps to protect her personal property when she had nowhere to stay. She also states that the Council failed to provide emergency accommodation under Part VII Housing Act 1996.

The complaint

1. Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to proprly consider her homeless applciation in 2023, and that it did not take reasonable steps to protect her personal property when she had nowhere to stay. She also states that the Council failed to provide emergency accommodation under Part VII Housing Act 1996.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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:

we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the Complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X was evicted in October 2023 from her previous property and brought a late complaint against the Council in October 2025 for the failure to protect her belongings under section 211 Housing Act 1996. She says the Council had a duty to take reasonable steps to protect personal property. She also states that the Council failed to provide emergency accommodation under Part VII Housing Act 1996.
7. It was explained to Miss X that the local authority has a duty to protect personal property under s.211(1) and (2), however this will be at the cost of individual, and storage and removal costs will be recharged in full. In this case, there was no tenancy in place, and the belongings were within someone else's property, and not a matter for the local authority to act on.
8. The facts demonstrate that the Council followed due processes, carrying out thorough checks, with involvement of the outreach service and community safety wardens in attempt to locate her. The Council says an assessment of homelessness took place March 2022 and October 2023. The evidence available to the Council did not establish priority need. Although this is not a legal requirement, the decision was put in writing to Miss X in January 2024 and she could have asked for a review of this decision at the time or complained to us.
9. Miss X complained to the Council in October 2025, although the events took place between 2022 to 2023. The Council’s complaints policy says it is only able to investigate matters brought to their attention within 12 months of when the issues occurred. The evidence suggests that there were no extenuating circumstances that prevented Miss X from raising the complaint at an earlier stage.
10. The legislation from which the Ombudsman takes her powers also places some restrictions on what we can investigate. One of these restrictions relates to complaints about matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they brought it to our attention. Miss X made a complaint to us concerning a separate matter in 2023 so she was aware of our service at the time when she was made homeless.
11. 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.

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Final decision

12. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council's failure to assess Miss X's homelessness and protect her property when she was evicted in 2023. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman