Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions regarding Mr Y’s tenancy. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman considering the Council’s provision and management of social housing.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions related to the Council tenancy of her son, Mr Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Ms X provided. I am giving Ms Y the opportunity to comment on this draft decision.

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What I found

5. The complaint is about the Council’s actions regarding Mr Y’s Council tenancy. Ms X says the Council: asked Mr Y not to return to his property; ended Mr Y’s tenancy; charged rent for the period when Mr Y could not return to the property; sent mail to Mr Y’s previous address from where he cannot recover it; and has not dealt properly with communications about the matter.
6. These points all concern the Council’s actions as Mr Y’s social housing landlord. So the restriction in paragraph 2 applies. The law prevents us investigating this complaint.
7. After I sent a draft of this decision, Ms X told me Mr Y originally became a Council tenant when he stopped being a child in the Council’s care. I note this. However, the Council’s relevant duties to Mr Y as a care-leaver would have ended when Mr Y was 21. That was before the events regarding his tenancy that are the subject of this complaint. So this point does not enable us to investigate the complaint. The central matters resulting in the complaint concern the Council’s actions as Mr Y’s landlord and former landlord, which the Ombudsman has no power to investigate.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Ombudsman does not have the legal power to investigate the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman