The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about housing allocations. This is because it is late with no good reason to investigate it now.
The complaint
Mr Y complained the Council has failed to offer him and his family suitable accommodation and have wrongly removed their housing priority.
Mr Y says this means the family are not eligible for larger housing which means his children share a room, despite one of his children needing their own room due to a medical condition.
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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information Mr Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr Y and his family were offered housing by the Council in 2020. Mr Y and his family felt the housing was not suitable for his family. He therefore refused to accept the housing offered to him.
The Council wrote to him in December 2020, explaining that it had considered the suitability of the property for Mr Y and his family and considered it suitable. It said that due to Mr Y’s refusal of the property it was removing his priority status for housing. It told Mr Y about his right to appeal this within 3 weeks if he wished.
Mr Y approached us in June 2022.
Analysis The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y was aware of his reason to complain in December 2020, so this complaint is late.
We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph three where we decide there are good reasons. Mr Y has not provided any good reasons why he did not bring his complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect him to have complained sooner. Consequently, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because it is late with no good reason to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman