Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of concerns she reported about disrepair in her privately rented property between 2012 and 2024. This is because some of her complaints are late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaints. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of concerns she reported about disrepair in her privately rented property between 2012 and 2024. She says the Council failed to take appropriate action against the landlord to ensure the disrepair was fixed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Ms X logged seven requests with the Council regarding disrepair at her privately rented property between August 2012 and January 2024. Ms X has complained to us about the Council’s handling of her reports of disrepair. Therefore, Ms X’s complaint is about matters that occurred more than 12 months ago.
7. The Council confirmed Ms X had reported the disrepair between August 2012 and January 2024. Therefore, if she was unhappy with the Council’s response to her concerns at the time, it was reasonable for her to have complained back then. I cannot see any good reasons for why Ms X did not complain to us earlier about the Council’s response to her reports. Therefore, I am not satisfied there are good reasons to exercise discretion to consider her late complaint.
8. I am satisfied we can consider matters within the last 12 months of when Ms X complained to us. Ms X first approached us in December 2024. I have decided to consider matters from June 2023 because this was the last substantial contact Ms X had with the Council regarding her concerns about disrepair.
9. Records showed Ms X submitted an online disrepair report form in June 2023. In this form, Ms X details that in 2022, there was damage to her roof, chimney, ceilings, external and interior walls, kitchen, and windows. The case record also showed Ms X had raised concerns about how the Council had let her down as it failed to act regarding the roof repairs.
10. The Council told Ms X she could make a complaint and asked whether she had any outstanding disrepair matters. Ms X told the Council there was an outstanding problem with drainage, but that the utilities company was scheduled to inspect this. The Council advised Ms X to come back to the Council if there were any issues but did not hear back from her. The Council closed in the case in December 2023.
11. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault with the Council’s actions. This is because Ms X did not report any outstanding disrepair items to the Council in June 2023 and confirmed she did not wish to pursue a complaint. Therefore, there was no action the Council could take. We are also not likely to find fault with the Council for closing the case in December 2023 as the Council waited a reasonable amount of time to see if Ms X returned with any outstanding issues.
12. In January 2024, Ms X contacted the Council as she had been evicted. Records showed Ms X main concern was about the Council’s lack of action regarding the disrepair she had reported over the years. Records showed no further action was taken by the Council due to Ms X no longer occupying the property.
13. Ms X complained in August 2024. The Council investigated and responded to Ms X’s complaint.
14. An investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault with the Council’s decision to close the case. This is because Ms X’s approach was not in relation to any specific service request, but rather to raise general concerns about how the Council had dealt with her case over the years. The Council appropriately investigated and responded to Ms X’s complaint about this.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because some of her complaints are late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaints. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman