For the first time, people — not just tenants — concerned about how councils, including Ealing Council, manage social housing can take complaints directly to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
The change, which came into force today (1 May 2026) under the Renters’ Rights Act, allows people who are not tenants to raise complaints about local authority social housing management.
It follows amendments to the Local Government Act 1974, which from 1 May 2026 extend the Ombudsman’s powers to investigate complaints about local authority social housing management from people who are not tenants.
Previously, only tenants could take complaints to the Housing Ombudsman, leaving others without access to independent redress. The Housing Ombudsman will continue to deal with complaints from tenants about their social landlord, including where that landlord is a local council.
Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman: “This is a significant and long-overdue change. Until now, people who had genuine concerns about how their council was managing social housing — but who were not tenants themselves — had nowhere to turn once they had exhausted the council’s own complaints process.
“These amendments close that gap and ensure that we can provide the independent scrutiny and redress that the public deserves.”
