Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council not paying rent arrears to the landlord of a tenant. This is because it is unlikely he would find evidence of fault by the Council

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has misled him about discretionary housing payments and it has not paid rent arrears for a tenant who resided in his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered Mr X’s complaint and his correspondence with the Council. I have also considered information from the Council. I considered Mr X’s comments on a draft of my decision before I made my final decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X rented a property to a tenant who was using a rental deposit scheme via the Council and a local letting agent. The Council agreed to pay the deposit and first month’s rent, after which the tenant was responsible for the rent.
5. The tenant fell into rent arrears and was served with an eviction notice by Mr X. The Council negotiated with Mr X that it would clear the arrears of the tenant via a discretionary housing payment if the tenant would be allowed to remain in the property. Mr X accepted these terms and two payments were made to him from the discretionary housing and homelessness funds.
6. The tenant again fell into rent arrears and was served with an eviction notice. The Council decided that the tenant required more intense support to avoid rent arrears and arranged for them to find alternative accommodation and support.
7. Mr X complains that the Council misled him about discretionary housing payments and that the Council has admitted liability for the rent arrears by providing the initial payments, and it should therefore repay the remaining debt to him.
8. The Council has advised that the payments made to Mr X were discretionary payments to help the tenant remain in the accommodation when they first fell into arrears, and not an admittance of fault. The contract for the rent was between Mr X and the tenant, and the additional support from the Council was to try and prevent homelessness.

Assessment

9. The Council initially agreed to payments from the discretionary housing fund and homelessness prevention fund to cover the first sum of rent arrears. When the tenant fell into rent arrears for a second time, the Council decided that alternative support was needed. I cannot find evidence the Council entered into a second agreement to repay the additional rent arrears. The Council informed Mr X that payments to him were discretionary payments made to help keep the tenant in the accommodation.
10. I have not seen evidence the Council agreed to clear the remaining rent arrears. Ultimately the contract for rent was between the Mr X and his tenant, and not with the Council. Therefore I think it is unlikely that an investigation would find evidence of fault by the Council.

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Final decision

11. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely that I would find evidence of fault by the Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman