Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of housing disrepair issues at a property Mr X left in 2021. This is because the complaint is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction to investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains about the Council’s handling of housing disrepair issues and the lack of action taken against his ex-landlord at a property he used to live in until 2021.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to his complaint.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The restriction highlighted at paragraph 3 applies to Mr X’s complaint. He has been aware of the issues about which he complains for a number of years and we would reasonably have expected him to have complained to us sooner about them. While there has been some delay by the Council in addressing his complaint, we will not investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating the substantive issue.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and so falls outside our jurisdiction to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman