Leeds City Council (25 017 516)
Category : Environment and regulation > Antisocial behaviour
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr X’s reports of antisocial behaviour. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council did not act when he reported antisocial behaviour from his neighbour. He says the Council should have taken stronger action, including rehousing the neighbour. Mr X says this has had a significant impact on both his and his wife’s mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The events Mr X complains about happened between 2023 and August 2024. His complaint is therefore late. Late complaints are where a complainant takes more than 12 moths to complain to us. This restriction in paragraph 2 applies to the complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.
- In any event, even if the complaint was not late, we could not consider the Council’s actions in its role as the neighbour’s landlord. We could only consider whether the Council appropriately used its general powers to respond to reports of antisocial behaviour. Therefore, we could not investigate the Council’s management of the neighbour’s tenancy.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman