The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s view that it discharged its homeless duty to her in 2014. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
Mrs X says she has been in temporary accommodation since 2006 and that she has lived at her present address since 2014. In 2021 she complained to the Council about being overcrowded and it informed her that she has not been in temporary accommodation since it discharged its duty to her when she took her current private rented tenancy. She says she has lost her housing priority since the Council lost her records and she should be re-instated on the homeless list.
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) When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant. I have also considered the Council’s Housing Allocations policy.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says she applied to the Council and was accepted as homeless in 2006. Since that time, she says she was placed in four different addresses, the final one being her current home in 2014. In May 2021 she complained to the Council that her home was unsuitable and overcrowded. The Council advised her that she is not on the housing register and that her current home is a private rented tenancy and not temporary accommodation.
Mrs X disagreed with this and said she was placed in the accommodation in 2014 and never received a letter from the Council telling her that it had discharged its duty. She asked for evidence of this. The Council told her that it destroys case files after 6 years when they are inactive and as she was removed from the register and was no longer homeless, her case papers were destroyed as part of a 6-year data destruction policy.
The Council told her that it did retain a copy of the tenancy agreement from 2014 for which it provided a rental bond. This data was recovered from a separate redundant system to her homeless case papers. It says this confirms that she has had her own tenancy since 2014. Mrs X says she will complain to the office of the Information Commissioner about the loss of her data.
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint now. Mrs X was aware she was no longer considered as homeless in June 2021 and there is no evidence to suggest she could not have complained to us sooner.
On the balance of probabilities. it is unlikely that she was placed in temporary accommodation as she did not make any contact with the Council or place bids on vacancies from 2014.
Homeless applicants are placed on the housing register in Band B when they are placed in temporary accommodation and can bid on vacancies in this category. There is no evidence to show that she remained on the list after the Council says it discharged its duty in 2014 or that she made bids during this period.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s view that it discharged its homeless duty to her in 2014. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman