The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to assist her when she became homeless. There is insufficient evidence of fault causing sufficient injustice to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council failed to support her when she became homeless, which caused her distress.
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, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X was accommodated by Council B whilst applying for asylum. When this was granted, she moved to London. In August 2025, she moved to this Council’s area. Her accommodation was arranged by a charity. In September 2025, she sought housing assistance because she was being evicted.
A housing officer advised Ms X to contact Council B for help because she did not have a local connection to its area. To establish a local connection, you usually need to show you have either lived in the area: for 6 of the last 12 months; or 3 of the last 5 years.
In October, Ms X made a complaint. The Council responded that: she had been advised previously to contact Council B, which had accommodated her before; and that Council B had told it that it would help with the deposit and first month’s rent if she found private rented sector accommodation.
Ms X did not have a local connection to this Council, so it did not owe her a homelessness duty. It was likely she did have a local connection to Council B and Council B had indicated it would assist her.
Whilst this Council could have taken a homelessness application and made a referral to Council B, it was quicker for Ms X to contact Council B directly for assistance.
There is insufficient evidence of fault causing sufficient injustice to justify further investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault causing sufficient injustice to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman