Summary: We found fault on Miss Y’s complaint about the Council failing to resolve the issue of using the correct form for her address. The Council agreed to send Miss Y an apology and review why it did not resolve the correct form of her address sooner and refer her earlier to the relevant team. It accepted a failing with its stage 2 complaint process, but I am not satisfied this caused her any outstanding injustice. There was no fault on her remaining complaints.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complains about the Council failing to:
1. ensure the property she privately rents was properly licensed under the Housing Act 2004;
2. ensure disrepairs were carried out by the landlord;
3. investigate unlawful rent collection by the landlord;
4. correct an error with her address for council tax which resulted in enforcement proceedings; and
5. properly respond to her formal stage 2 complaint.
2. As a result, she was caused a great deal of stress, suffered financially and emotionally, was left living in unsafe conditions, and caused her to spend a lot of time and energy trying to resolve it all.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. 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)
6. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.

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What I have and have not investigated

7. As Miss Y complained to us in September 2025, I only investigated the Council’s actions from September 2024 and not any earlier. This is because we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. I have seen no good reasons why we should exercise discretion to investigate any earlier complaint.
8. I investigated her complaint to September 2025 because this was when the Council sent its final stage 2 response under its complaints procedure. This means the Council only had the opportunity to respond to her complaints up to this date and not after it.
9. For the sake of clarity, I have only investigated the Council’s actions from September 2024 to September 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Miss Y, the Council’s response to my enquiries, as well as relevant law, policy, and guidance. I sent a copy of my draft decision to Miss Y and the Council. I considered the Council’s response.

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What I found

Housing Act 2004

11. The Act requires mandatory licensing of certain houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). A council attaches conditions to an HMO licence. Breaching them is an offence. Conditions are used to ensure HMOs are of the appropriate standard and are fit for purpose. A council can use its powers to decide certain areas are subject to extra licensing, which can require smaller HMOs in its area for example, to be licensed,
12. Councils should try and deal with hazards in HMOs under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS). If a hazard is a serious and immediate risk to a person’s health and safety, this is a Category 1 hazard. Less serious or less urgent hazards are Category 2 hazards. A council has the power to take immediate action for Category 1 hazards, such as issuing enforcement notices. For Category 2 and other hazards, councils give guidance and recommendations to a property owner to reduce the risk.
13. Mandatory licence conditions include: the need for a gas certificate sending to the council every year; maintaining electrical appliances and furniture the landlord supplies in a safe condition.
14. Councils must take all reasonable steps to secure applications are made to them for HMO licences where appropriate and should actively seek applications for HMOs meeting the mandatory licensing criteria (section 61 (4)).
15. Applications must be processed within a reasonable time and although there is no fixed time limit, it is recommended this should be done within four and six weeks from receipt.

What happened

16. Miss Y complained about the following Council actions connected to the privately rented accommodation she and her partner live in.

Complaint a): licensing under the Housing Act 2004

17. Miss Y is unhappy the Council failed to ensure the accommodation she lives in was licenced sooner than it did. She complains she never received various valid certificates she was entitled to have, such as gas and electric certificates for example, to which she was entitled as someone living in an HMO.
18. The Council introduced selective licensing from 1 February 2021 to Miss Y’s ward which meant all privately rented properties needed to be licensed. It said it was for the landlord/agent to explain why they did not apply for a licence. All privately rented accommodation in her ward needed to be licenced as ‘selective’ (single household) or ‘additional’ (3-4 people sharing).
19. The Council said it became aware in July 2025, when Miss Y copied the Council in to an email she sent to the landlord, that the property was unlicenced. When it checked the tenancy agreement as part of the property licensing process, it realised the date of the application was four years after the date the tenancy started.
20. The Council confirmed a licence under Part 3, section 88, Housing Act 2004 was issued in September 2025 after it was satisfied the landlord had provided copies of the required safety certificates.

My findings

21. I found no fault on this complaint. This is because I am satisfied it was the landlord/agent’s responsibility to apply for an HMO licence. The Council only became aware of the landlord’s failure to apply in July 2025. The landlord applied for a licence which was granted within a reasonable period.

Complaint b): ensure disrepairs were carried out by the landlord

22. The Council said it received details of Miss Y’s complaint about lack of repairs in July 2025. It investigated and found four Category 2 hazards (entry by intruders, fire, electrical hazards, and personal hygiene)
23. In August, the Council inspected the property and a few days later, wrote to the landlord with the findings. The letter warned the landlord had until the end of September to respond to the requirements and failure to do so could mean it serves an improvement notice.
24. There were delays in making the repairs but, the evidence showed there was a dispute between the landlord and Miss Y about the contractors used.

My findings

25. I found no fault on this complaint because the evidence showed the Council acted promptly when alerted to Miss Y’s reports about disrepair.

Complaint c): investigate unlawful rent collection by the landlord

26. Miss Y claimed the Council failed to act on evidence she sent of the landlord unlawfully collecting rent through a dormant company.
27. When she made the Council aware of this, it signposted her to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service for advice.
28. Its Trading Standards team only contacts complainants where it needs further information or is considering investigating. The complaint she made was not within its remit. The trader she complained about was a member of either the Property Redress Scheme or the Property Ombudsman Limited. These involve an escalated complaints process for those wishing to make a complaint due by the acts or omissions of a member. The schemes try to reach a resolution and will make decisions on a complaint. The Council’s role is only to ensure agents and property managers belong to a scheme which has a redress mechanism for complaints.

My findings

29. I found no fault on this complaint. This is because the Council properly signposted Miss Y to get advice as this type of complaint was not one it could investigate. This is because the trader is part of an independent and impartial resolution service.

Complaint d): correct an error with her address for council tax which resulted in enforcement proceedings

30. Miss Y explained her accommodation address has an ‘A’ after the number, but she repeatedly received bills to the same address which did not have this letter after the number. She claimed this caused confusion and resulted in enforcement action against the wrong address. The other address is a commercial, not residential, property.
31. She ended up owing about £1,642 unpaid council tax and charges.
32. The Council explained:

• to Miss Y in October 2024 that it could not accept her student certificate as they were time limited pending payment of the course;
• liability started in July 2023;
• information she sent in September 2024 was not enough as she said her course was ‘pending’;
• a summons notice (summons 1) was issued in December 2024 as Miss Y failed to send her student certificates or apply for Council Tax Support. This was for July 2023 to March 2025 for £2,058 along with court costs;
• in January 2025, after contact from Miss Y, the Council invited her to visit its officers to get help about her documents;
• in March, her account was sent to the bailiffs because no payments were made;
• in April, she sent a council tax benefit application and the student certificate. Her account was amended to show student disregard. Her partner needed to apply for a rebate based on receiving Universal Credit. Not having a laptop to make an application would not stop recovery action. She needed to contact the bailiffs now as they were dealing with the amount not covered by her student disregard. It upheld her stage 2 complaint because the student disregard was not applied to the new account when it was opened. It offered her £150 for poor communication and distress;
• in October, the Council issued a summons (summons 2) to Miss Y’s partner. It was issued to Flat A and then gave the address. Neither turned up at the hearing and so a liability order was issued;
• in June 2026, the Council explained the address format it used was the recognised address on the Local Land and Property Gazetteer. This is the central corporate database for all addressing used by an authority.

She was told to contact the Street Naming and Numbering Team. This is responsible for the formal allocation and maintenance of property addresses within its area. It noted she used both forms of address in her correspondence. She was also told she could register for online billing or could contact the Revenues Service to update the council tax records to include the preferred format as a correspondence address.

33. I have seen different forms of her address used in correspondence by the landlord, Miss Y, on the gas certificate, on the university certificate, and in internal and external emails by the Council. I have not seen a copy of the tenancy agreement so do not know what address was on this document.
34. Email correspondence I have seen from October 2024 to Miss Y was headed Flat A, followed by her address. Clearly, there was no problem with this correspondence with Miss Y as it was sent by email.

My findings

35. I found the following:
1. I saw a variety of forms of address used by different parties and there was inconsistency in the form of address used by the Council.
2. I have also noted the address form used by the landlord in correspondence with the Council is not that used by Miss Y. The address form on the summons was the address form the landlord set out in his correspondence.
3. On balance, I consider the Council’s inconsistent use of the form of address was fault as the Council should have resolved this issue and directed her to the Street Name and Numbering Team sooner.
4. I am satisfied this caused her injustice in the form of confusion and frustration although note she was given the option to register for online billing or contact the Revenues Service to update the council tax records to include her preferred format. I am not satisfied the inconsistent use caused council tax recovery proceedings. This is because the build up of arrears was due to failures to provide information requested by the Council and apply for benefits.

Complaint e): properly respond to her formal stage 2 complaint

36. Miss Y complains the Council failed to properly record or respond to her stage 2 complaint under its complaints procedure. She resubmitted her stage 2 complaint in August 2025 which she said was not logged or acknowledged.
37. The Council sent her its stage 2 response the following month. The Council accepted at the time of making her complaint, the team had some IT problems for which it apologised. Her concerns were passed to the Residential Environmental Health Team to investigate and respond under stage 1 of its complaints process. This team decided her complaint was premature as it was still dealing with the issues she complained about. She had complained about failing to regulate the property, the unlicensed HMO, and council tax enforcement.
38. Her complaint about council tax was previously addressed and closed. She was signposted to the Ombudsman should she remain unhappy about that issue.
39. In June 2026, the Council apologised for not responding to the email she sent in November 2025. It awarded £100 because a proposal she made was not sent on to its Legal Service. It also accepted an officer failed to signpost her to mental health support services even though she had already sought medical assistance at the time and apologised. It offered a further £50 for the inconvenience caused by the complaint handling.

My findings

40. I found fault on this complaint. This is because the Council apologised to Miss Y and upheld her complaint that it had failed to properly log/acknowledge her stage 2 complaint. I am satisfied there is no unremedied injustice to Miss Y because the Council gave an apology and went on to deal with her stage 2 complaint.
41. The Council correctly sent her complaint to the Residential Environmental Health Team to respond to as it was dealing with the matters she was unhappy about.

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Action

42. I read our guidance on remedies and took account of action the Council already took, such as the provision of apologies, for example.
43. The Council agreed to take the following action within four weeks of the final decision on this complaint:
1. Send Miss Y a written apology for failing to resolve sooner the correct form of her address and signposting her to the Street Name and Numbering Team.
2. Review why it failed to resolve sooner the issue of the correct form of address and signposting her to the Street Numbering Team.
44. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

45. I found the following on Miss Y’s complaint against the Council:

• Complaint a): no fault;
• Complaint b): no fault;
• Complaint c): no fault;
• Complaint d): fault causing injustice; and
• Complaint e): fault with no remaining injustice.

46. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman