London Borough of Waltham Forest (25 026 855)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s temporary accommodation because the complaint is late.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council has placed her and her family in unsuitable temporary accommodation. Miss X says the property has issues and this has impacted upon her and her family’s mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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)
- The County Court deals with appeals about homelessness decisions.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that she has been living in unsuitable temporary accommodation since September 2024. Miss X did not bring her complaint to the Ombudsman until February 2026 and there is no good reason Miss X did not bring her complaint about this sooner. This complaint is now late.
- In any event, if someone wishes to challenge the suitability of temporary accommodation, we normally expect them submit a suitability review request under the Housing Act 1996. If this is unsuccessful, they would have a further right of appeal of the review outcome under s.204 to the County Court.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman