London Borough of Brent (25 004 324)
Category : Housing > Private housing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Aug 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about homelessness advice given to Mrs X’s tenant in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about the Council’s actions in relation to her tenant which she says caused her to suffer financial loss and property damage. Mrs X would like the Council to reimburse her for the court fees and the damage to her property.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X has provided an email string between her and the Council’s homelessness prevention officers in 2022 showing Council staff querying Mrs X’s decision to evict her tenant.
- We will not investigate this complaint which concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months from when we received their complaint. In this case Mrs X was aware of the Council’s involvement in 2022 and could have complained to us reasonably within 12 months.
- The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
Final decision
- We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about homelessness staff involvement with Mrs X’s tenant in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman