To the LGSCO

A complaint to the LGSCO may only be made by, or on behalf of, a member of the public or a body of persons other than a local authority or other public service body. Members of the authority concerned cannot normally make a complaint to the LGSCO. Members may only do so if acting as members of the public, e.g. in relation to matters affecting them as users of a local authority service.

To the Housing Ombudsman

The following people can make complaints to the Ombudsman about members: 

• a. a person who is or has been in a landlord/tenant relationship with a member. This includes people who have a lease, tenancy, licence to occupy, service agreement or other arrangement to occupy premises owned or managed by a member. If the complaint is made by an ex-occupier, they must have had a legal relationship with the member at the time that the matter complained of arose;
• b. an applicant for a property owned or managed by a member;
• c. a representative of any of the people above who is authorised by them to make a complaint on their behalf;
• d. a representative of any of the people above who does not have the capacity to authorise a representative to act on their behalf. The Ombudsman must be satisfied that the representative has the legitimate authority to act on the person’s behalf; or
• e. a person with authority to make a complaint on behalf of any of the people above who is deceased. 

This means that, as well as considering complaints from tenants, the Housing Ombudsman can also accept complaints from leaseholders and shared owners. The only category of homeowner who is not eligible to bring a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman about a member landlord are those who own the freehold of their home.