Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of noise nuisance. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation. We have no jurisdiction not investigate complaints about social housing landlords and the management of their tenancies.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s failure to serve an abatement notice on her neighbour whom she says is deliberately causing noise nuisance to disturb her sleep patterns.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council or other landlord 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. Ms X says the Council failed to properly investigate her complaint about noise nuisance from her neighbour in 2023. She says it took a month from when the Council said it would provide recording equipment until it was provided. She also says her evidence was not properly consider because the Council should have concluded that the nose was intentional and served a notice.
7. The Council says its officers investigated the complaint and assessed the evidence she provided, including the noise recordings once equipment became available. It concluded that the noise did not constitute a statutory nuisance and therefore an abatement notice was not warranted.
8. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on councils to investigate reports of nuisance and to take reasonable steps to investigate any complaints of statutory nuisance that it receives. The task of detecting statutory nuisances is usually delegated to Environmental Health Officers, who are often made aware of statutory nuisances by complaints from residents. They are the recognised experts and their professional judgement is very important – if they consider that a nuisance is being caused a Magistrate will normally accept their view.
9. If the Council had considered the issue to be a statutory nuisance it would be required to serve an abatement notice. There is no duty to serve a notice if the Council decides there is no statutory nuisance, as in this case. These notices carry a right of appeal to the magistrates court and the resident can appeal if they believe the notice was unreasonable or incorrectly served. This means the Council would have to have a case which could be reasonably defended at appeal and if there is not sufficient evidence it should not serve a notice.
10. In this case Ms X has also involved other services in her complaint about her neighbour, including her landlord and the Police. She says she wants her neighbour to be moved and that her tenancy rights have been abused. The Council’s involvement was to consider if there was a statutory nuisance to be abated. As a social housing tenant, she can complain to the Housing Ombudsman service about her housing association landlord but the Council has no powers to enforce tenancy conditions.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of noise nuisance. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation. We have no jurisdiction not investigate complaints about social housing landlords and the management of their tenancies.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman