The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X missing out on an allocation of housing. This is because the events happened more than twelve months ago and so the complaint is now late.
The complaint
Mr X complains that in June 2024 he came first in line for a property on the Council’s bidding site but due to an administrative error he missed out on the property.
Mr X said the Council’s fault has caused his family a significant missed opportunity and wants the Council to offer his family a like for like property as a remedy.
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 twelve 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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The administrative issue with Mr X’s bidding happened in June 2024. Mr X complained to the Council about this a few months later and the Council accepted fault. The Council said its administrative issue had caused Mr X to lose out on a property he otherwise would have come first place for.
As Mr X had waited a significant length of time already for a suitable property the Council apologised and offered to pay Mr X £1,000 as a financial remedy. The Council told Mr X if he was not satisfied with the Council’s final complaint response, he could contact the Ombudsman.
Mr X did not contact the Ombudsman until December 2025, eighteen months after the bidding issue occurred. Mr X said he brought the complaint late because he was trying to resolve the issue with the Council directly rather than contacting us. This is not a sufficiently good reason for the lateness and so we will not investigate this complaint further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was not brought to us within twelve months of Mr X becoming aware of the issue.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman