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Clarion Housing Association Limited (202428334)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202428334

Clarion Housing Association Limited

18 June 2025


Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the complainant and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s decision to give tenancy succession to the complainant’s brother, and its handling of concerns the complainant raised about this.

Determination (jurisdiction decision)

  1. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
  2. After carefully considering all the evidence, we have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, in accordance with paragraph 41.a of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme).

Background

  1. The complainant’s father, who passed away in July 2023, held a tenancy on a property with the landlord. The complainant said he lived at the property prior to and following his father’s death.
  2. Following their father’s death, the complainant’s brother applied to the landlord for succession of the tenancy. The tenancy was then given to the complainant’s brother.
  3. In September 2024 the complainant contacted the landlord. He said that succession of the tenancy had been given to his brother “in error”. He said his brother had not lived at the property in the 12 months prior to their father’s death and that he may own another property.
  4. Following his complaint to the landlord, it provided stage 1 and 2 complaint responses to the complainant in February and March 2025. It said his brother remained the “legal sole tenant” of the property but that it had begun a fraud investigation.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 25 of the Scheme sets out the people who can make a complaint to the Ombudsman, including:
    1. 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.
    2. an applicant for a property owned or managed by a member.
  2. Paragraph 41.a of the Scheme says that the Ombudsman cannot consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion were not referred to the Ombudsman by one of the people who can use the Scheme under paragraph 25. 
  3. We have seen no evidence the complainant is or has been in a landlord/tenant relationship with the landlord. We have also seen no evidence that he made an application to the landlord for succession of the tenancy. Evidence we have seen shows that he first approached the landlord in September 2024. This was after the tenancy had been placed into his brother’s name. As such, in line with Paragraph 41.a of the Scheme, this complaint falls outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to consider.
  4. We acknowledge that the complainant has outlined how the situation is affecting him and his siblings. However, the concerns he has raised about his brother’s succession of the tenancy should be appropriately resolved by the landlord’s fraud investigation and any subsequent action through the court.