Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about rent arrears for a garage. This is because it is a late complaint and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council wants him to pay rent arrears for a garage which was in disrepair. Mr X wants the Council to reduce the bill.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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My assessment

5. Mr X rented a garage from the Council. In October 2019 he told the Council he would not pay all the rent until some repairs were completed. Mr X reduced his rent payment by half. The Council completed the repairs in December 2019.
6. In November 2019 the Council warned Mr X it would end the garage tenancy if he did not pay the arrears. The Council ended the tenancy and changed the locks in February 2020.
7. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint in March 2020. Mr X’s wife escalated the complaint in October 2021. She disputed the outstanding arrears of £190 and said they had no money to pay. She said she thought the issue had been resolved in 2020.
8. The Council responded in December and explained the garage was repaired in December 2019 and they were notified of the arrears at the same time. It said it has a duty to collect the arrears.
9. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mr X has been aware of the arrears and disrepair since 2019 but did not complain to us until 2022. He says he lost some belongings when the garage was repossessed but he did not include it in his 2020 complaint and neither was it raised in the 2021 complaint. I have not seen any good reason to investigate a late complaint. I appreciate Mr X has had some health issues but his wife has been involved and could have complained sooner.
10. I also will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Regardless of any disrepair, Mr X had a contractual duty to pay the full rent and the Council is entitled to seek recovery of any arrears. The Council was also required to keep the garage in a good condition but, if that did not happen, then the correct process would have been for Mr X to pay the full rent but complain and seek compensation for any delay in doing repairs. Mr X could also have taken legal action against the Council if he did not think it was maintaining the garage. In addition, Mr X had been warned in 2019 that the Council would repossess the garage if he did not pay the arrears.

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Final decision

11. We will not start an investigation because it is a late complaint and because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman