The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the time it is taking for the complainant to get a new home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and because part of the complaint is late.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says she has been living in temporary accommodation for seven years and is still waiting for a larger home. She says the Council should not have removed her from the housing register in 2014 and should not have refused her application in 2015. Ms X says the Council should offer a new home by the end of the year.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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 provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
My assessment
Ms X says the Council removed her from the housing register in 2014 and refused an application in 2015. Ms X says this was wrong because she had a family.
The Council rejected a homelessness application from Ms X in 2015 because it decided she had made herself intentionally homeless. The Council, at the request of social services, allowed Ms X to stay in the emergency accommodation because she had a child. Ms X remains in that accommodation.
Ms X applied to join the housing register in 2019. The Council rejected the application because she had no housing need. This was because she needed a two bedroom home and she was living in a two bedroom flat.
Ms X was a court witness and measures were put in place to protect her. Ms X says there have been a couple of incidents which she has reported to the police. The police have not taken any action and have not asked the Council to move Ms X.
Ms X joined the housing register in 2020. This was because her child had reached ten years of age which means Ms X now needs three bedrooms. Ms X is registered in band C.
Ms X says she should have an earlier priority date because she has been trying to join the housing register since 2014. Ms X wants the Council to offer a new home. The Council explained she needs to bid for a new property and it is impossible to say how long it may take to place a successful bid.
I will not investigate what happened in 2014 and 2015 because it is a late complaint. These events happened significantly longer than 12 months ago, and I have not seen any good reason to investigate events from so long ago. In any case, Ms X had no housing need until 2020 when her bedroom requirement increased to three.
I will not investigate what happened in 2019 because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Ms X was adequately housed in 2019 so could not join the housing register.
I will not investigate Ms X’s current situation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council placed Ms X in band C because she lacks a bedroom; band C is the correct band for someone who needs another bedroom. Her priority date cannot be extended beyond 2020 because that is when she successfully joined the register. Further, the Council has explained it is impossible to say how long it will take for Ms X to place a successful bid. There is a shortage of social housing so Ms X may face a long wait. Ms X says her child’s father has been housed. I cannot comment on someone else’s application but his application has nothing to do with Ms X’s application. The fact he has been housed has no bearing on Ms X’s application or the way the Council has assessed it.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because part of the complaint is late and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman