Cheshire East Council (19 016 626)

Statement Not upheld Other 07-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to take action regarding a neighbouring long-term empty property. The Council was not at fault and there is no evidence Mr X was caused a significant personal injustice. In addition, the property has now been sold so there is nothing more that could be achieved by further investigation of the complaint.

London Borough of Wandsworth (20 003 239)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 04-Sep-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s contractor workers allegedly urinating near the complainant’s property. This is because the Ombudsman is unlikely to be able to make any determination of fault by the Council or add to the investigation it has already conducted.

Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (20 002 182)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Sep-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the complainant’s temporary housing. It is unlikely he would find fault by the Council had caused the complainant injustice that warrants his involvement.

London Borough of Tower Hamlets (20 001 788)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 24-Aug-2020

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s response to issues she raised about her housing. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because a number of the issues relate to events which happened too long ago to be investigated now and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation of more recent issues.

Oxford City Council (19 009 937)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 14-Aug-2020

Summary: Miss B complains the Council has not refunded her the correct sum from a Tenancy Deposit Scheme and did not deal with her complaint. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint further. It is reasonable to expect Miss B to pursue her complaint in court, and she has not suffered a significant personal injustice as a result of delay in the Council responding to her.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (19 018 206)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 10-Aug-2020

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to maintain her roof and solar panels which it has mounted there. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Miss X is a leaseholder of the property and leasehold repairs and maintenance services are not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

London Borough of Havering (19 015 710)

Statement Upheld Other 06-Aug-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman found no fault on Mr Y’s complaint about the Council’s failure to promptly return the property it rented from him. It followed proper legal procedures to evict its tenant. The Ombudsman found fault by the Council failing to keep him properly updated about progress with its return. It also failed to meet the timescale in its complaint procedure at stage 2. Its offer of £420, and this investigation, remedies any injustice caused.

London Borough of Ealing (20 000 660)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 24-Jul-2020

Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to pay her an Empty Properties Grant after it failed to determine a planning application which she submitted in 2012. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before submitting her complaint. As well as the complaint being outside the 12-month timescale, it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate to determine her planning application.

Westminster City Council (19 013 888)

Statement Not upheld Other 22-Jul-2020

Summary: A Housing Association, acting on behalf of the Council incorrectly accepted, then withdrew Mr C’s application for a property. However, the Council subsequently took appropriate steps in rectifying this error by reinstating the offer. There is therefore no evidence of fault in how it dealt with the matter.

Stevenage Borough Council (20 001 342)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 22-Jul-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about damage to the complainant’s house by a neighbouring property which is owned by the Council and rented to tenants. This is because the Ombudsman cannot consider complaints about a Council when it is acting as a landlord.