The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has mismanaged his property. Part of his complaint is late without good reason to investigate it now. We cannot achieve a worthwhile outcome by investigating the other part of his complaint.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council mismanaged his property by failing to return it to him after he ended the lease agreement. He says the matter has caused him distress and financial hardship.
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 no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X owns a property leased to the Council under its private sector leasing scheme. In late 2022, he served a notice to end the lease, requiring the Council to return the property by early 2023. The Council began eviction action against the tenant and started legal proceedings for possession. Those proceedings are still ongoing, so the Council has not yet returned the property to Mr X.
Mr X is unhappy the Council has still not returned his property. He says the Council’s delay and mismanagement have caused him distress and financial hardship, including costs linked to a disrepair claim made by the tenant.
Return of property Mr X first became aware of the matter in early 2023 when the Council did not comply with the break lease notice. In line with the restriction in paragraph three, we do not investigate late complaints unless there is a good reason. This helps us make fair, evidence-based decisions about recent events, by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner.
I see no good reason for Mr X’s delay in complaining to us. The Council’s subsequent legal proceedings against the tenant did not prevent him from complaining to us sooner. Therefore, I will not investigate this part of his complaint.
Disrepair claim Mr X’s complaint about the disrepair claim is too closely linked to the main issue that we are not investigating. We must use our resources carefully and it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. There is no worthwhile outcome by our investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late without good reason to investigate and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman