London Borough of Brent

This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner .

The complaint

Mr X complained that the Council failed to follow its own housing allocation policy for Mr X following his release from prison. On 18th April 2024, the Council awarded Mr X Band D priority. His representative complained to the Council that it had overlooked his disclosed probation status in May 2023 and in 2024. Mr X should have been assessed under the probation pathway immediately, and not placed in Band D without that liaison.

Mr X wants the Council to formally acknowledge that it failed to follow the Allocations Policy in 2023 and 2024; reassess Mr X’s housing application from the date of his release (May 2023) under the correct probation pathway; award Band B priority or a direct offer of suitable accommodation and issue a written apology and compensation for distress and hardship caused by avoidable delays.

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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).

How I considered this complaint

I considered information provided by the Complainant and the Council.

I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

Upon his release from prison in 2023, Mr X lived in an overcrowded property with his mother, who is also his representative and his two younger siblings. After losing contact with the Council in 2023 he was awarded a Band D on his housing application following a review in May in 2024. Unhappy with this decision, Mr X’s representative made a formal complaint in 2025: He complained that following his release from Prison, Probation Services submitted a referral to the Council’s Housing Services as part of his resettlement and move-on support, and that such referrals should trigger a placement in Band B on the lettings scheme or a direct offer of suitable accommodation. He complained that the Council had failed to consider his housing needs properly.

The Council in its response to Mr X, explained the reasoning behind his Band D housing allocation: that further to its communication with Probation Services, the system reported that Mr X status is not deemed to be a highly vulnerable situation: there are no reports outlining any risk of harm investigations, safeguarding team had no concerns about Mr X being a target to harm, and no medical need and also Mr X was on probation reset, meaning he is not actively being managed due to the risk being stable.

On 14 August 2025, Mr X’s Representative escalated the complaint Stage 2, with her complaint highlighting the fact that the response for the Stage 1 had failed to address the lack of correspondence between the Council’s Housing Services with the Probation Services as this was a mandatory service. The Council’s Director Residents and Housing Services on 22 October 2025 upheld the original decision.

The Council had responded emphasizing that the Council’s Housing Allocations scheme does not state that all housing applicants under probation supervision will be granted Band B priority – this band will only be considered in such cases if probation service in liaising with the Housing Needs and Support service presents an argument, supported by relevant evidence in favour of such priority in particular instances – for Mr X, Probation Services had never advanced such an argument for his case.

We will not investigate this compalint which was received outside the normal 12-month period for accepting complaints. Mr X and his representative were aware of the housing allocation response in 2023 and 2024 and did not complain to us until late 2025.

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. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

Final Decision

We will not exercise discretion to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his housing application in 2023 and 2024. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman