Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council refusing Mrs X’s request to succeed a tenancy. This is because we do not have the power to investigate complaints about the Council’s actions as a social landlord.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council wrongly refused to let her take on her late mother’s tenancy to her. She also complained the Council unfairly asked her to leave the property. Mrs X says that the Council’s actions have caused significant distress to her and put her family at risk of harm.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also puts 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 information provided by Mrs X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X’s mother, Mrs Y, was a Council tenant. When Mrs Y passed away, Mrs X asked the Council if she could take on her mother’s tenancy. The Council refused Mrs X’s request. Mrs X said the Council asked her to leave the property.
7. A council is acting as a social landlord when it deals with a request to succeed (or take on) a tenancy. It is also acting as a social landlord when it asks people to leave one of its properties. So, we cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint as it is about the Council’s actions as a social landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman