Summary: Mr A complains the Council has delayed investigating his reports of an alleged planning control breach caused by a neighbouring property owner. We have found evidence of fault by the Council including significant delay of nearly two years. We have upheld the complaint and completed the investigation because the Council accepts our remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant (whom I refer to as Mr A) says the Council has delayed investigating his reports that a neighbouring property is being used a hotel/ House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) since 2021.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have spoken to Mr A and considered the information he provided. I asked the Council questions and examined its response.
5. I shared my draft decision with both parties.

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What I found

What happened

2021

6. On 11 June 2021 Mr A reported an alleged planning breach to the Council, he said a neighbouring property was being advertised online as a hotel/ HMO and he was being caused a nuisance. Mr A sent the Council additional information on 17 June and said the issue had been ongoing for three years. On 16 July the case was allocated to a Planning Enforcement Officer (Officer 1) to investigate. On 6 August Officer 1 told Mr A the case was being investigated. On 27 August Officer 1 visited the property with an Environmental Health Officer (EH Officer). They did not gain access. On 9 September I understand the EH Officer told Officer 1 the property was being used as a B&B and advertised online. Contact details for the owner were provided. On 13 September Officer 1 wrote to the owner stating the Council was aware the property was being used as a B&B. That required planning permission and no such permission was in place. The owner must contact the Council within seven days to confirm how they intended to resolve the breach of planning control. On 21 September the owner told the Council he lived at the property and had never let out the whole house as a B&B.
7. There is no evidence of any further action by the Council in 2021.

2022

8. The Council says Officer 1 left its employment sometime in Spring/ Summer 2022. Mr A was in contact with the Council throughout asking for updates. I cannot see he received any response from the Council.
9. On 4 August the case was allocated to another Planning Enforcement Officer (Officer 2). Officer 2 visited the property the next day but could not gain access. They spoke to Mr A on 23 August, and he said the owner lived overseas. A further visit occurred on 16 September and again no access was gained.
10. There is no evidence of any further action by the Council for the rest of 2022.

2023.

11. Mr A continued to contact the Council about the case but did not receive substantive responses. On 5 April Officer 2 wrote to Mr A and apologised for the delay contacting him. Mr A pushed for more information and Officer 2 replied on 13 April. The Council would serve a Planning Contravention Notice (PCN) on the owner which would require the owner provide additional information. Once that information was received the Council could assess whether it should progress to a Planning Enforcement Notice.
12. I have no evidence of activity by the Council from 14 April to mid-September.
13. On 19 September Officer 2 issued a PCN to the owner giving them 21 days to provide additional information. In mid-October Officer 2 called the owner and said the Council would take enforcement action if no reply was received within 14 days. As I understand it the owner did not respond.
14. On 17 November Officer 2 spoke to Mr A. Mr A confirmed people were still coming and going at the property and he believed it was being used as a B&B. Officer 2 advised the Council needed more information to progress the case and the owner had not replied to the PCN.
15. On 1 December the Council had a case review. I have not seen any notes but the Council states it concluded there was insufficient evidence to serve a Planning Enforcement Notice. It would prepare a case for non-response to the PCN.

What should have happened

16. The Council has a duty to investigate alleged breaches of planning control.
17. As set out in its Planning Enforcement Plan the Council says response times on an investigation will vary depending on workload but “we will endeavour to provide a high standard of service delivery”.
18. When a report about an alleged planning breach is received, the case is allocated to a Planning Enforcement Officer to investigate. The Officer may carry out a desk-top analysis and visit the site. The Officer should, as part of the standards set out in the Planning Enforcement Plan, inform the complainant about key milestones in the investigation.
19. The Council can issue a PCN to a property owner where it requires information about an alleged planning breach to enable a decision on whether other formal action should be taken. The PCN will give a deadline for the owner to reply.

Was there fault by the Council

20. There is clear and substantial fault in this case.
21. Mr A reported the alleged planning breach in June 2021. Officer 1 did follow procedures initially and by the end of September they were in a position to issue a PCN. Instead, there is no record of any activity on the case from 22 September through to August 2022. The Council says Officer 1 worked on the case “actively” but the evidence shows that is not correct. The Council has also referred to covid-restrictions but again it has failed to evidence how any such restrictions impacted on this particular case or prevented Officer 1 progressing the investigation for several months until their departure in 2022.
22. Unfortunately, the delays continued even when the case was allocated to Officer 2. The investigation was picked up in August 2022 but then left without any activity from 17 September to the start of April 2023. In April Officer 2 told Mr A that a PCN would be issued. That did not happen until September. I cannot see any explanation for this additional delay. Once the PCN was issued the Council took until 1 December to review the case. This could and should have been done sooner. In total there are delays of 23 months. That is wholly unacceptable.
23. In respect of the recent decision by the Council to not serve a Planning Enforcement Notice, that is a decision the Council is entitled to take. It is not for the Ombudsman to say what, if any, formal enforcement action should be taken by the Council.
24. The Council says it had staff shortages, financial restrictions and a backlog. Whilst I understand the issues faced by the Council, that does not stop its duty to progress an investigation at a reasonable pace and to keep a complainant updated. In this case Mr A was left for lengthy periods without substantive responses to his enquiries.

Did the fault cause an injustice

25. The delays by the Council and its failure to respond to Mr A meant he has been left uncertain about what will happen for 23 months longer than necessary.

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Agreed action

26. The Council has agreed to my proposals and will:
• Pay Mr A £200 for his time and trouble,
• Pay Mr A £230 for the delay and uncertainty caused by the delay,
• Send Mr A letter of apology and offer to discuss the case with him in detail including possible next steps,
• Set out for the Ombudsman how the Council intends to better monitor cases to ensure they are not left inactive.
27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

28. I have completed the investigation and upheld the complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman