The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about mould in the complainants property and about the Council’s decision to refuse her application for a management transfer. This is because we cannot investigate the action of the Council in relation to the provision or management of social housing.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains that the Council has failed to deal with mould in her property and that it has refused her application for a management transfer. She says she is therefore having to pay for a property that is unsuitable.
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 complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended) 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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X says her Council home has been affected by mould since 2016. She complained to the Council in 2020 about these issues and issues relating to her homelessness application, the Council sent its final response in December 2020 and told her she could complaint to the Ombudsman if dissatisfied.
I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. We cannot investigate complaints about the actions of the Council in relation to its management or provision of social housing. This includes issues of disrepair and management transfers. These matters are for the Housing Ombudsman.
There were issues raised in Miss X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with Miss X’s homelessness application. These are within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. However, these events happened more than 12 months ago, and I see no reason my Miss X could not have raised them sooner.
If Miss X wishes to complain about matters that have arisen since the Council issued its final response in December 2020, she should first raise this with the Council and then if dissatisfied with its response she can ask either us or the Housing Ombudsman to consider it further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate the actions of the Council in relation to the provision or management of social housing.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman