Eastleigh Borough Council (21 013 274)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Private housing 07-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Mr X’s tenants when he evicted them. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Eastleigh Borough Council (21 005 846)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Private housing 01-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of housing matters related to Ms X’s ex-tenant. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council.

North Warwickshire Borough Council (21 014 403)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Private housing 18-Jan-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council has not maintained the building where she lives as a Council leaseholder. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of housing let on a long lease by a local housing authority.

Wyre Borough Council (21 000 346)

Statement Upheld Private housing 06-Jan-2022

Summary: There was fault by the Council as it mistakenly closed a complaint about housing disrepair. The Council’s apology and change in procedures remedies the injustice to Miss X. The Council has no powers to force her landlord to complete an electrical safety check on the rented property she had to move out from, so there is no fault on this point. The landlord wants Miss X to sign a new tenancy agreement before he completes the electrical check and the Council has no power to intervene in this dispute.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (21 012 492)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Private housing 05-Jan-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with repair issues in Miss X and Ms Y’s private rented property. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the way the Council dealt with the matter.

City of York Council (21 003 895)

Statement Upheld Private housing 04-Jan-2022

Summary: Mr X complains on behalf of his son, Mr Y, that the Council did not inform him of his right to apply for a Rent Repayment Order (RRO), when it found the property he was a tenant in was an unlicensed House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). He says when the Council did tell him it was too late, as the time limit to apply to a tribunal had ended. Mr X also says the Council did not issue notices regarding hazards at the HMO as required by law and did not respond to his complaint despite acknowledging it, which caused uncertainty and distress. We find fault with how the Council handled Mr X’s complaint, its failure to issue the required notices and with some of the information it provided. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment for the uncertainty and distress caused, and the time and trouble used pursuing the complaint. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

London Borough of Newham (20 006 212)

Statement Not upheld Private housing 17-Dec-2021

Summary: Mr B complained the Council failed to take action to require his landlord to resolve problems of disrepair and hazards in his home. He said this meant he had to live in a property in an unsatisfactory and dangerous condition. There was no fault by the Council

Canterbury City Council (20 010 229)

Statement Not upheld Private housing 15-Dec-2021

Summary: Miss B complained the Council delayed investigating disrepair to her private rented property, failed to identify hazards and did not take enforcement action against her landlord. Miss B says her family suffered injury because of the disrepair. I have stopped investigating this complaint because Miss B is pursuing the matter through the Courts. Miss B can return to the Ombudsman once the Court case has concluded.

London Borough of Wandsworth (20 012 495)

Statement Upheld Private housing 10-Dec-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to take action about water escaping into his property from a neighbour’s property. There was no fault in how the Council decided what action to take about the water leak. However, there was fault in how the Council first responded to Mr X’s complaint which caused him avoidable frustration for which the Council should apologise.

London Borough of Redbridge (21 003 663)

Statement Upheld Private housing 30-Nov-2021

Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council failed to resolve disrepair problems in her privately rented property since December 2019. We found the Council delayed in taking adequate action between December 2019 and June 2020, failed to keep proper records and delayed excessively in responding to Mrs B’s complaint. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B £300 and improve its procedures for the future.