Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s decision to issue Mr X a penalty relating to an unlicenced House in Multiple Occupation. There is not a good reason for the delay in bringing the matter to us, and Mr X also likely had a right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber – Residential Property), which would have been reasonable for him to use.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to assist him when he found out his tenant was subletting his property, and instead demanded Mr X obtain a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) license. Mr X said despite obtaining an HMO license, the Council issued him a £3,000 penalty in 2022 and has more recently threatened him with a county court judgement. Mr X wanted the Council to waive the penalty and compensate him for harassment.

Back to top

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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. 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 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, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. The events Mr X complains about occurred in 2022. He has provided evidence he was already raising his concerns with the Council about the penalty it had issued him by June 2022. Mr X complained to us in early 2025.
8. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons. There is not a good reason in this case for the significant delay.
9. In any event, the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber – Residential Property) deals with appeals against fines issued by councils against landlords of unlicensed HMOs. Therefore, the penalty the Council issued to Mr X was likely one which would have been reasonable for him to appeal.
10. Mr X says the Council has more recently threatened to take action via the county court for payment of the fine. Given that the fine was not appealed, we would not find fault with the Council’s decision to pursue payment as it is entitled to recover unpaid penalties. There is insufficient evidence of fault in more recent events that would justify investigation by the Ombudsman.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in him complaining to us, and in any event the penalty his complaint relates to is likely one that would have been reasonable for him to appeal to tribunal.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman