Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaints about the way the Council has dealt with anti-social behaviour by its tenants over the last 10 years. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about the Council’s actions in the management of social housing.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr B, complains the Council has failed to deal with anti-social behaviour he and his wife have suffered for the last 10 years from different council tenants. Mr B says his family has suffered abuse, name-calling and intimidation and his wife cannot leave the house.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mr B provided when he made his complaint. I sent a draft decision to Mr B and invited comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

6. Mr B says he has suffered from anti-social behaviour for over 10 years. The Council acknowledges the previous tenants at the property had caused damage to Mr B’s property and the Council had taken enforcement action against the tenants. Those tenants have now moved out.
7. The Ombudsman cannot look at Mr B’s complaints about how the Council dealt with the previous tenants at the property. The Ombudsman has no power to investigate complaints about the Council’s actions as the landlord of the Council tenants. The Ombudsman could potentially investigate complaints about how different functions of the Council dealt with complaints such as noise nuisance, but we can only normally investigate complaints about events that occurred within the last 12 months. And as those tenants have now been moved, there is nothing more the Ombudsman could achieve if he did investigate.
8. Mr B has raised complaints about the new tenants placing animal hutches in their garden, dropping a ladder in his garden, growing plants against his fence and children standing on the hutches looking into his garden. These are matters for the Council to consider in its capacity as a social housing provider and the Ombudsman has no power to investigate

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about the Council’s actions in the management of social housing.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman