Summary: Miss B complained about the quality of works carried out at her home as part of a Council disabled facilities grant (DFG). Miss B says the outstanding issues have caused stress to her and have impacted her health. She also says she has lost out on money and has spent lots of time raising complaints with the Council. I have found the Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss B complains about the quality of works carried out at her home as part of a Council disabled facilities grant (DFG). She complains there are ongoing issues the Council has not resolved.
2. Miss B says the outstanding issues have caused stress to her and are affecting her mental and physical health. She says she has lost out on money and has spent lots of time chasing the Council and raising complaints.
3. Miss B would like the Council to ensure all outstanding works are completed and all issues are resolved. She would also like a financial remedy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
6. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A) and 25(7), as amended)
7. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have investigated

8. I have investigated matters in this case from June 2023, when Miss B appears to have first reported her concerns about the works to the Council, to March 2025 when Miss B complained to us.
9. Miss B’s complaint includes matters from 2023, so the restriction in paragraph 5 therefore applies. I have exercised discretion to investigate from June 2023. This is because Miss B was consistent in raising issues with the Council and reasonably allowed time for the Council to attempt to resolve the issues.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I read Miss B’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the telephone.
11. I considered evidence provided by Miss B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Disabled facilities grants

13. Disabled Facilities Grants are provided under the terms of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Councils have a statutory duty to give grants to disabled people for certain adaptations. Before approving a grant, a council must be satisfied the work is necessary, meets the disabled person’s needs, and is reasonable and practicable.

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What happened

14. This is a summary of events outlining key facts, and it does not cover everything that has happened in this case.
15. Miss B is a tenant of a housing association. The Council approved her DFG application and commissioned a contractor to complete the works. The building contractor started the works in March 2023, to build a rear extension. This involved relocation of the kitchen and creation of a ground floor bedroom and bathroom.
16. Miss B first reported concerns about the works while they were ongoing, in June 2023. She told the Council she had paid to landscape her garden, and the contractor now needed to remove the decking to make way for the extension. A meeting was held at Miss B’s home to discuss her concerns. In July 2023, she reported concerns with water from the level access shower leaking into the kitchen, and a crack in the external ramp. The Council visited and told Miss B the contractor would fix the issue with the shower, and it would speak to the contractor about the ramp but advised it was still safe to use. It also told Miss B it would meet the costs of the decking. The Council met with the contractor to address Miss B’s concerns. He assured the Council the bathroom floor had been installed correctly, and he would provide an additional shower curtain to prevent water pooling.
17. The Council further discussed the issues with Miss B in August 2023 and told her it would discuss these with the Council’s surveyor and the building contractor. The surveyor inspected the works in September 2023. A few days later, Miss B contacted the Council again about the problems, and the Council passed the information to its surveyor. The Council’s records note Miss B later told it a new shower screen had been installed; the bathroom door had been adjusted to address the swollen flooring caused by the water pooling from the shower; and she had been provided with new decking. She said she was happy for a final inspection to be carried out for completion of the works. The Council noted the works were completed at the end of September 2023. The Council’s building control signed off the works in January 2024.
18. In January 2024, Miss B raised concerns with her member of parliament (MP) about the removal of her decking and the issues with the level access shower. She also contacted the Council and told it there were outstanding issues, including leaks, flooding of both the downstairs and upstairs bathroom floor, and decking boards being thrown away. The Council asked the contractor about this, and he told it he had completed all the works.
19. Miss B’s MP contacted the Council later that month, which the Council responded to. The Council said:
• The extension was originally planned to be built to the side of Miss B’s home, but this was changed to a rear extension due to planning permission matters. The Council said Miss B decided to landscape the rear garden and install decking while the DFG process was ongoing, without the Council’s knowledge or involvement. This meant the contractor had to remove the decking to make way for the extension. The Council said it had funded new decking boards, but it was unable to install them as this did not form part of the DFG funding.
• The bathroom flooring had been laid within specification and installed appropriately, and the contractor fitted a shower door which resolved the water containment issue.
20. The MP visited Miss B’s home in February 2024 and told the Council there were issues with the bathroom door, bathroom floor, and the skylight. It asked the Council when it was likely to fix these issues. The Council’s surveyor and the contractor visited the house. The Council says the contractor agreed to fix the issues with the bathroom floor; the flooring outside of the bathroom; and supply Miss B with decking.
21. In May 2024, the contractor visited the house. The Council says he prepared the bathroom floor for replacement flooring and said he would contact the skylight manufacturer and arrange access through Miss B to remedy the fault with it. He said he would also supply the decking boards by the end of that week.
22. Miss B complained to the Council around the same time about outstanding issues with the works. The Council responded in November 2024. It told her the contractor had attempted home visits to address the issues with the skylight and flooring outside the bathroom, but the times had not been convenient for Miss B. The Council told Miss B it had worked with the contractor to return to the property to address the issues, alongside the surveyor. The Council advised Miss B once it had completed this work, any future repair works would fall under the responsibility of her landlord, the housing association.
23. Miss B brought her complaint to us in March 2025. She said works are outstanding and there are unresolved issues.

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Analysis

24. Where a council commissions a contractor to carry out DFG works, the Council remains responsible for the quality of the works. The Council also remains responsible for having oversight of the works. The Council responded to Miss B’s reports of issues with the works appropriately while they were ongoing. The Council visited Miss B’s home, held discussions about Miss B’s concerns, and arranged for the contractor to fix issues with the works. So, the Council maintained appropriate oversight of the works.
25. The works were completed in September 2023 and signed off by the Council’s building control in January 2024. This process involves the Council inspecting the work. The works were signed off by the Council, meaning it was satisfied they had been completed to the appropriate standard. This is a merits decision made by the Council, which we are unable to question. I can therefore not question the quality of the works or the Council’s decision to sign them off.
26. It is clear there are still unresolved issues with the skylight and the flooring outside of the downstairs bathroom. It appears the issue with the skylight was brought to the Council’s attention in February 2024, after the works were completed and signed off. So, it does not seem this was an issue as a result of poor quality of the DFG works. Rather, it seems to be an issue with the product itself. Similarly, it seems the swollen flooring is a snagging issue as a result of problems with the bathroom, which were fixed before the works were signed off. As mentioned in in paragraph 17, the Council noted Miss B was happy for a final inspection to be carried out after the bathroom door had been adjusted to address the swollen flooring. But the Council told us the contractor had failed to address these snagging issues after Miss B reported them after the works had been signed off. It said the flooring outside of the downstairs bathroom had not been replaced and the skylight remained faulty. But the Council says it has since agreed with Miss B’s housing association for it to fix the remaining issues, and it will work with Miss B to come to a resolution. I consider this is an appropriate response by the Council in attempt to resolve the remaining issues.

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Decision

27. I find no fault by the Council and do not uphold Miss B’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman