The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of disrepair in her private rented property and the priority awarded on its housing register because it is too late.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council delayed carrying out a home visit after she reported disrepair in her private rented accommodation and did not take appropriate action after identifying category 1 hazards at the property.
Ms X also complained the Council ignored medical evidence when deciding the priority band for her housing register application. She said she had been on the housing register since 2008 but has not been rehoused.
Ms X said that, as a result of the Council’s failings the family have been living in housing affected by mould, with a roof that leaks when it rains, various infestations and an unsafe gas hob. She said they lived with no heating for three years. Three family members have now been diagnosed with asthma and one child is particularly unwell and is regularly hospitalised.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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) 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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Private disrepair Ms X said she reported disrepair in her private rented property in 2016 but the Council did not carry out a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection until 2020. When it did so it identified category 1 and category 2 hazards. The Council took enforcement action and the landlord was fined for not complying with this. The Council’s complaint response said its last visit to the property was in November 2022, at which point it did not consider further intervention was needed, although it acknowledged low level hazards remained.
Ms X said the landlord did not carry out the repairs properly and the Council failed to check they had done so. She says the family remain in housing that is in a serious state of disrepair. However, she has not reported further issues since 2022 as she has lost faith in the Council and because the landlord threatens to evict them and puts up the rent when she reports problems.
We will not investigate this complaint further. We expect complaints to be made within 12 months of the events complained about. Although we acknowledge Ms X did not complain to us sooner because she was managing the impact of the disrepair, including family member’s health issues and hospitalisations, it is unlikely we could reach robust findings about what happened in 2022 and earlier, nor is it likely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome, given the lapse of time.
Housing register Ms X complained it was a further year after identifying category 1 hazards, during which she repeatedly chased it, that the Council awarded bad B on its housing register. Ms X also complained the Council had ignored medical evidence she provided, including letters from her children’s doctors and support letters from their school, when deciding the priority band on her housing register application. She told us the Council would only consider medical evidence relating to one family member. She also said the Council gave advice about the priority band by telephone but had not confirmed its decisions in writing and she was not aware she could ask for a review of those decisions if she was unhappy with them.
In its complaint response the Council said it had awarded band B because it had identified category 1 hazards at her property. However, Ms X had not been successful when bidding due to the shortage of housing and high demand for it.
We will not investigate this complaint further. Ms X told us she had last submitted medical evidence in 2021, which was the same year the Council awarded band B in light of the disrepair. It is unlikely the medical evidence would have resulted in a higher band at that time. It is also unlikely we could establish whether there was delay in awarding band B given the lapse of time.
Homelessness Ms X said she tried to make a homelessness application in 2017 and in 2019 but was told she could not pursue this because she did not have a valid section 21 notice. She provided an email dated 2017, which said she was not homeless because the Council’s record “was not showing [her] as being under notice to leave”. It is unclear whether the Council considered if she was homeless on the basis it was not reasonable for her to continue to occupy the property. It is unlikely there would be sufficient information available now for us to establish whether the Council was at fault in not considering this or decide, even on balance, what it would have decided if it had done so, given the lapse of time. It is also unlikely we could achieve a worthwhile outcome by investigating now. Therefore, we will not consider this complaint further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is too late. It is unlikely there will be sufficient information to reach robust conclusions or that we could achieve a worthwhile outcome given the lapse of time since the events complained about.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman