Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take action over nuisance from its tenants. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate complaints about tenancy management by social housing landlords.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to take sufficient action against her neighbours who are its tenants. She says she has reported anti-social behaviour and criminal damage since 2021 without the Council taking action against the neighbour’s tenancy. She wants the Council to take formal action or move her neighbours.

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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 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mss X says she has had problems with her neighbours, who are Council tenants, since 2021. She owns her home but has made complaints to the Council housing services over the past 3 years without achieving any result in terms of action against the tenancy of her neighbours or moving them away from her location.
7. We will not investigate this complaint which concerns matters the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they complained to us. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
8. We have some discretion to consider older complaints but in this case this would not apply. This is because the complaint is about tenancy management by a social housing landlord and we have had no jurisdiction to investigate these complaints since 2013.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take action over nuisance from its tenants. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate complaints about tenancy management by social housing landlords.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman