Summary: Mr X complains that the Council is not doing enough to prevent his tenant’s homelessness following him starting the eviction process. Mr X also complains that his tenant has been paying him a rental amount below the Local Housing Allowance rate. We will not investigate this complaint as we do not have consent from the tenant for Mr X to act as their representative and because the Council is not responsible for the rental rate set in this tenancy agreement.

The complaint

1. Mr X started the eviction process against his tenant in October 2020 and says the Council is not doing enough to prevent his tenant’s homelessness. Mr X spoke with our Intake team in July and agreed that he would speak to the tenant and make this complaint with a consent form. In the meantime, Mr X asked us to consider the issue of the rental rate of the property which we agreed to and which I have considered here.
2. Mr X complains his tenant is paying him £495 per month which is below the current Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate for this property. Mr X says when he started letting to this tenant it was under an agreement with a management company working on behalf of the Council and the management company agreed to top up the rental payments to £510 per month.
3. Since the management company ceased their contract with the Council and subsequently their contract with Mr X, he no longer receives this rental top-up payment. He has been invited by the Council to join a new landlord incentive scheme for this tenancy, with new terms, but Mr X declined to join.
4. Mr X says he does not have the facility or knowledge to change the tenancy agreement to a higher rate of rent himself and believes the Council should reimburse him for the difference in rent since the management company ceased the contract.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. When the management company ceased their contract the Council sent Mr X two letters inviting him to join their new landlord incentive scheme but Mr X did not think the terms were agreeable and declined to join.
9. Mr X no longer has a contract with the Council for this tenancy. Therefore the Council is not able to deal with complaints about the rental rate as this is the landlord’s responsibility to set.
10. Mr X says he does not have the facility or knowledge to seek a rent increase. However, this is a private tenancy and the Council has no responsibility to assist him with this.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault on the part of the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman