Summary: We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about the Council issuing civil penalties under the Housing Act 2044 for breaches of legal notices served on a landlord. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. Housing Act notices carry a right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal Property chamber and it was reasonable for Mr X to use this remedy in 2019.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council serving civil penalties on him for breaching an improvement notice and failing to licence his rented property in 2019. He says he believes the improvement notice was unreasonable and that he thought the selective licensing scheme was a voluntary one for landlords.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X is a private landlord who owns a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO) for rent. He was served with an improvement notice when the Council’s housing officers discovered repair and improvement work identified previously was not completed. In 2019 he was issued with a civil penalty of £4,800 for failing to comply with the notice. The improvement notice and the final warning for the civil penalty carried a right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber but Mr X did not appeal.
7. In 2019 Mr X was also required to register his property under the Council’s selective licensing scheme. The Council arranged a meeting to assist him completing the application but he did not attend. Despite a reminder letter that his property had to be licenced or he could face a civil penalty of up to £30,000, Mr X did not apply. A civil penalty for £4,500 was served on him in 2019 and he did not appeal.
8. Mr X did not complain to us about the penalties until December 2023 which is outside the normal 12-month period for receiving complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion investigate this complaint about the Council issuing civil penalties under the Housing Act 2044 for breaches of legal notices served on a landlord. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. Housing Act notices carry a right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal Property chamber and it was reasonable for Mr X to use this remedy in 2019.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman