The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a rent refund because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision. We will also not investigate Mr X’s complaint about housing benefit because it is late.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council refused his request for a refund of overpaid rent for temporary accommodation. And the Council wrongly used the funds to pay arrears from a previous tenancy.
Mr X also complains he was in arrears because the Council did not ensure the previous temporary accommodation was affordable or award adequate housing benefit.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council placed Mr X in temporary accommodation and he applied for housing benefit in August 2019. Mr X says that he went into arrears because the Council did not assess the affordability of the placement and the housing benefit awarded to him was not enough to cover the rent payments. This complaint is late and I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate.
Mr X moved to different temporary accommodation where he built up credit on his rent account. He asked for a refund but the Council refused this in June 2024 and told Mr X it had used the funds to clear his previous debt.
The Council’s policy and standard tenancy agreement is clear that it will use overpayments of rent to pay any arrears first. It usually will not hold credit on an account more than the equivalent of one week’s rent.
Mr X says he did not sign a tenancy agreement for his current accommodation. However, by paying rent he has accepted an agreement with the Council and it is reasonable for the Council to apply its policy. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision about the rent refund request. I will therefore not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council made its recent decision, and the rest of Mr X’s complaint is late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman