The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove a housing application from the housing register. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
The complaint
Miss X complained that the Council wrongfully removed her application from the housing register in January 2024. As a result, she complained that family’s mental health has suffered.
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 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) 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 it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
On 18th August 2025, Miss X asked for a review of the Council’s decision, made in January 2024, to remove her from the housing register. The Council responded under the complaints procedure and advised her that this was a matter which should be referred to the Housing appeals team as it required a service response. She was also incorrectly referred to the Housing Ombudsman service which does not deal with allocations complaints.
Miss X submitted a premature compalint to us in September 2025 and we subsequently contacted the Council about it. The Council sent details of the case and confirmed that her application was close in January 2024 and that she had not asked for a review until August 2025. This meant that the review request was outside the time limits for seeking a review.
We will not investigate this complaint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for accepting complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have asked for a review or complained to us sooner.
The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove a housing application from the housing register. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman