Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s handling of Mr D’s requests for housing support and his homelessness application between 2014 and 2020. This part of his complaint is late. We also cannot investigate his complaint about the Council’s involvement in subsequent legal proceedings. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about court or tribunal proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr D complains about the Council’s handling of his requests for support with private rented housing and his homelessness application between 2014 and 2020. He also complains about its involvement in subsequent legal proceedings. He wants the Council to pay compensation for possessions he lost following his eviction and for his suffering.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr D says he lived in a private rented house between 2014 and 2020. He says the property was overcrowded and did not have a valid House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licence, and his living conditions were terrible. He says he was illegally evicted from the property in 2020.
6. Mr D complains about the Council’s handling of his requests for support while he was living in the property, including its response when he said his landlord did not have a valid HMO licence. He also says it did not properly handle his homelessness application in 2020. He approached us in October 2025.
7. We will not investigate this part of Mr D’s complaint because it is late. A complaint is late if it has taken someone more than 12 months to complain to the Ombudsman. Mr D’s complaint is about matters arising at least five years before he approached us. I can see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate. Mr D could have approached us sooner if he was unhappy with the Council’s actions at that time.
8. Mr D also complains about the Council’s involvement in subsequent legal proceedings about the same private housing.
9. We cannot investigate this part of Mr D’s complaint. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about court action or tribunal proceedings.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr D’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his requests for housing support and his homelessness application because it is late. We cannot investigate his remaining complaint about its involvement in legal proceedings because the law says we cannot investigate these matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman