Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of the status of a rented property. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to give him a prompt response to his report in November 2022 that a neighbouring property may be operating as a house in multiple occupation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or

any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X reported to the Council in late 2022 that he believed a neighbouring property may be operating as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) without a licence. The Council failed to contact him about his report and in July 2023 he made a formal complaint.
6. The Council informed him that following an investigation there was insufficient evidence of any breach of the licensing regulations. Mr X also suggested that internal alterations to the house may have bene made without building regulation or planning approval. The Council says there no evidence of any breach. It cannot divulge the details of its investigation to Mr X because it would be a breach of the GDPR data protection regulations to disclose third party information without their consent.
7. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.
8. In this case there is no evidence that the activity at the neighbouring property has caused any direct personal injustice to Mr X, even if the Council has found evidence of breaches of licensing and building regulations.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of the status of a rented property. There is insufficient evidence of any significant injustice which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman