Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms B’s complaint about the way the Council has dealt with a property adjacent to her property which has caused her various problems over the years. We will not investigate old events as these happened too long ago to be investigated now and with regard to more recent matters, an investigation into them is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms B, says for many years the use of the Council property next to hers has caused her family a variety of problems, including anti-social behaviour, noise nuisance, rubbish accumulation and rat infestation. She wants the Council to recognise the problems it has caused her by the use it has put the property to and by the tenants it has housed in it.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Ms B and the Council. I gave Ms B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered what she said.

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What I found

5. Ms B owns a property which is next door to a Council owned property which over the years has been used for a variety of tenants, including those to whom it had a social care responsibility. Around 2017 the property was left empty for about a year until the Council began refurbishing it and into which it has recently placed a large family.
6. Unhappy with the problems she and her family had been caused by the Council’s use of the property, Ms B complained to the Council about the historical problems they had experienced and about more recent problems concerning noise nuisance from the family now living in the property and about rubbish accumulation and rat infestation.
7. The Council responded by explaining why it would not be addressing the parts of her complaint which concerned events which had happened too far in the past. It also explained why it had not sold the property as Ms B had wanted and that it was satisfied the property was appropriate for the size of family currently housed in it. However, it did acknowledge that it had delayed unreasonably in addressing the rubbish and rat aspect of her recent complaint and in recognition of its fault it offered her £500.

Assessment

8. It is clear Ms B and her family were inconvenienced and distressed by past events which took place at the property next door to them. However, the Local Government Act 1974 which sets out our powers imposes restrictions on what we can investigate, and the restriction highlighted at paragraph 2 applies to the past events Ms B has complained about. These events happened too long ago to be investigated now as so fall outside our jurisdiction and I see no grounds which warrant their investigation now.
9. With regard to more recent events, the Council has acknowledged and apologised for its failings, including its month’s delay in installing the interceptor drain cap to prevent rodent entry. It has offered Ms B £500 which appears to be a satisfactory way of resolving this aspect of her complaint. While I note Ms B is not happy with the Council’s offer, even if the Ombudsman were to investigate we would be unlikely to seek a remedy different to that already offered by the Council.
10. The Council has explained its position with regard to the number of people living in the property and that it does consider it to be overcrowded. Moreover, Ms B has confirmed that, thankfully, she and her neighbours now get on well and that they are not causing her any problems.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. We will not investigate old events as these happened too long ago to be investigated now and with regard to more recent matters, an investigation into them is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman