Summary: Miss X complained about how the Council handled her housing review and complaint about this matter. She said this caused distress for her and her family because they had to continue living in unsuitable housing for longer than needed. We have ended our investigation into this complaint because we have already investigated the matters Miss X complained about and so further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about delays by the Council in completing a suitability review of her property. She said she had to continue living in unsuitable housing until it completed the review.
2. Miss X also complained about how the Council handled her complaint about this matter and said it failed to act when she was locked out of her property, which caused her further distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Miss X and the Council now 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

What happened

7. In August 2025 Miss X complained to us about the Council. She said it was carrying out a suitability review of her property, but it was taking longer than it should. Miss X’s complaint was placed in our queue.
8. The Council completed its review in September 2025. Miss X then made a second complaint to us about how long the review took to complete.
9. We then investigated Miss X’s first complaint.

Analysis

10. As part of our investigation into Miss X’s first complaint, we looked at the overall delay of the Council’s review. This is because by the time we had started investigating her first complaint, the Council had completed its review.
11. We also investigated the other issues Miss X raised in her complaint, such as the Council’s complaints handling and how it acted when she was locked out of her property.
12. We have therefore already investigated the issues Miss X raised in this complaint. We will not investigate these again, because it would not lead to a different outcome from Miss X’s previous complaint.

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Decision

13. I have ended my investigation. We have already investigated the matters Miss X complained about and further investigation into these matters would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman