Summary: Mrs X complained the Council has failed to take appropriate action against her neighbour around rubbish accumulation and an overgrown garden which led to a rat infestation. The Council delayed dealing with the matter and let it drift. It served a formal notice on Mrs X’s neighbour in April 2023 however it has still not been complied with. The Council agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs X to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused. It will also take action to bring its investigation to a conclusion and prevent further rat infestations in the future.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to take appropriate action against her neighbour around the state of the outside of their property. Mrs X says the property is in poor condition and the rubbish accumulation and overgrown garden has led to a rat infestation.
2. Mrs X said she has raised issues with the Council since 2017 but the issue is ongoing without resolution. She says the matter has caused her distress, uncertainty and financial loss.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. 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). Mrs X said she has raised issues about this matter since 2017. I have considered events from March 2022 onwards. Anything prior to this is late as it was reasonable for Mrs X to have complained much earlier.
7. Part of Mrs X’s complaint was about disrepair issues with the property next door, including damp and guttering issues. The evidence shows the Council has never completed an internal inspection of the property next door to Mrs X’s. It also shows some of the issues were caused as a direct result of Mrs X’s own downpipe which she subsequently repaired. It is unlikely further investigation would find any fault around structural and disrepair issues so I have not considered this element of the complaint any further.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered the information she provided.
9. I considered the Council’s response to my enquiry letter and the information it provided.
10. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Prevention of Damage by Pests

11. The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 requires councils to keep their land and districts free from rats and mice so far as is reasonably practicable.
12. If a council believes steps should be taken for the destruction of rats or mice on any land, to keep the land free from rats and mice then it may serve the land owner or occupier with a notice. The notice will require the land owner or occupier to take reasonable steps, within a reasonable period to take action to rid the land or rats and mice.
13. Anyone receiving such a notice can appeal the notice to court within 21 days. If no appeal is made the council may take action itself to rid the land of rats and mice and take steps to recover any reasonably incurred expenses in doing so.

What happened

14. The following chronology provides a summary of the key events relevant to this complaint. It does not include every detail of what happened.
15. Mrs X is the owner of a house in the Council’s area which she lets out to tenants. Mrs X’s house is managed by a letting agent. The house next door to Mrs X’s house is owned by Ms F and will be referred to as ‘the property’ during this statement.
16. Records show Mrs X had raised issues in the years prior to 2022 about the state of Ms F’s property, including accumulation of rubbish and overgrown vegetation. She had previously raised concerns this was leading to the presence of rats.
17. In February 2022 Mrs X contacted the Council about a rat problem in her garden which she says was coming from the property next door. Mrs X said the property’s garden was severely overgrown and there was a large accumulation of rubbish within all areas, both to the front and rear.
18. The Council’s Environmental Health Officer (EHO) intended to visit Ms F at the property later that month however the visit was postponed until April 2022. The EHO visited in April and identified the presence of rats and rubbish which was providing easy living conditions for rats. The EHO told Ms F she must take steps to clear the garden and resolve the rat infestation. The EHO said they would visit again in a month and intended to serve a formal notice if it was not resolved. The Council wrote to Mrs X to update her of its actions.
19. In the meantime, Mrs X had commissioned a private pest control company to review the issue. This report said there was a rat infestation which was likely caused by Ms F’s garden being an ideal environment to use as cover and to construct nests. The company said the root cause of the rats was the overgrown vegetation and rubbish in Ms F’s garden and that required immediate attention. Mrs X sent the company’s report to the Council.
20. The Council visited Ms F again in August and September 2022. The Council noted Ms F had made some progress, but further work was needed to clear the garden. The Council said it intended to visit again in October 2022.
21. The Council visited again in October, however, Ms F told it she was unable to carry out further work due to medical issues. The Council postponed further visits until the new year. The Council wrote to Mrs X in December 2022 and advised that as Ms F was clearing the garden herself it was slow progress, however it believed improvements had been made.
22. Mrs X’s letting agent wrote to the Council in December 2022 on behalf of Mrs X and outlined the ongoing issues and concerns. They said the excessive rubbish, continuing rat problem and overgrown garden was having a detrimental effect on them letting the house. The agent said there had been no noticeable improvements at the property.
23. Mrs X and her letting agent wrote to the Council several times between December 2022 and March 2023 about the lack of action being taken by both Ms F and the Council itself. They said it was nearly a year since they formally raised the matter and the Council had not taken any meaningful action. Mrs X said the ongoing problems with the state of Ms F’s property was having a significant financial impact due to a loss of rental income and was causing significant distress and time and trouble.
24. The Council wrote to Mrs X and accepted the matter should have been resolved by now. It said visits at the start of 2023 were delayed but another one was scheduled for the end of March 2023.
25. Mrs X formally complained about the matter. The Council responded at stage 1 of its complaints procedure and said it was taking action around the ongoing rat issue and rubbish accumulation. It said it would likely serve a notice on Ms F to deal with the issues which if not complied with would allow the Council to carry them out and place a charge on Ms F’s property. It said delays had occurred due to Ms F’s mental health and medical issues and therefore it needed to deal with the matter sensitively.
26. The Council met with Ms F at the end of March 2023 and noted a lack of progress. It visited again in mid-April 2023 and served a formal notice under The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act. The notice required Ms F to remove the rubbish and overgrown vegetation so that at last 90% of the floor was accessible. It also required her to employ a professional pest control company to destroy all of the rats. The notice gave Ms F 21 days to comply with the notice otherwise it would take action itself and recover the costs from her. The Council advised Mrs X of the action it was taking and steps it expected Ms F to take.
27. The Council visited the property in May 23 and noted significant progress had been made but more was still required. It noted there was no evidence of any rats. The Council informed Mrs X it was continuing to work with Ms F to clear the garden.
28. The Council made a further visit in June 2023 and saw Ms F had made further progress. The Council recorded no evidence of any rats, but it still required Ms F to clear the garden in line with the requirements of the formal notice. The Council updated Mrs X.
29. At the end of June 2023 Mrs X wrote to the Council, unhappy with the slow progress. She said the volume of items and rubbish had not changed and said although the rats were not currently there, the continuing rubbish would mean they would return in the future.
30. The Council visited again in August and September 2023 and noted Ms F had not made any further progress due to some ill health and weather conditions. It postponed any further visits until January 2024.
31. Mrs X asked the Council to deal with her complaint at stage 2. The Council responded at the end of August 2023. It repeated much of what it said at stage 1 but explained recent visits had found no evidence of rats. It said Ms F’s garden was much clearer of rubbish and as long as that continued its stance was that Ms F was complying with the notice. It accepted the length of time it has taken in dealing with this issue was unacceptable and apologised.
32. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to us.
33. Records show Ms F made no further progress for the rest of 2023 due to various reasons given my Ms F to the Council. The Council visited during October and November 2023 and noted rubbish still present but no evidence of rats.
34. The Council visited in early January 2024 and acknowledged Ms F had still not complied with the notice but said there was still no evidence of any rats. It given Ms F a further eight weeks to clear the garden and plans to visit her again in March 2024.

The Council’s response to us

35. The Council accepted progress in dealing with this issue was slow but says some of the delays were unavoidable and due to a number of mitigating circumstances. The Council says the rat infestation is, at present, resolved but it will continue working with Ms F to clear the garden to prevent any future infestations.

My findings

36. Mrs X raised formal concerns about the property in early 2022. Despite visiting the property and trying to work with Ms F to resolve the matter the Council took no meaningful action until it served her with a formal notice in April 2023. This was a year after it initially warned Ms F about its intention to serve her with a notice. Although the Council was trying to balance the needs of Ms F, and there were some mitigating circumstances, it let the matter drift. The delay in taking any meaningful action between April 2022 and April 2023 was fault.
37. The Council served a formal notice on Ms F in April 2023 which required her to clear the garden to leave 90% of the floor accessible and employ a professional to destroy the rats. This was to prevent further rat infestations in the future. To date Ms F has not complied with the notice. The Council has for various reasons allowed Ms F extensions and further time to meet the requirements of the notice. However, it has taken too long to act and has failed during that period to properly consider whether to take action itself. It has not balanced the extra time and extensions afforded to Ms F against the ongoing injustice being caused to Mrs X. At the moment, there is no evidence of the presence of rats but the continuing presence of rubbish in Ms F’s garden leaves Mrs X with significant ongoing uncertainty around whether they will return, particularly from Spring 2024 onwards.
38. Mrs X and her letting agent have sent regular letters and emails to the Council outlining their ongoing concern, distress and uncertainty around the matter. The Council has accepted it has taken too long to resolve this. It is acknowledged the Council has a duty of care towards Ms F, but it has not properly balanced this against the injustice caused to Mrs X, which is still ongoing.
39. The Council at the time of writing is not satisfied that Ms F has complied with the notice. It has provided her with more time to comply and intends to carry out another inspection in March 2024. I have made a recommendation below to ensure the Council does not let the matter drift further beyond this date.

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Agreed action

40. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to write to Mrs X, apologise to her and pay her £500 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused to her by the delay in progressing and resolving the rat infestation and accumulation of rubbish at her neighbour’s property. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology.
41. Within three months of the final decision and following its inspection of Ms F’s garden in March 2024 the Council will carry out one of the following actions:
• If Ms F has taken appropriate action and has complied with the requirements of the formal notice it should write to Mrs X explaining this and it should close the case.
• If Ms F has failed to comply with the requirements of the notice the Council should consider whether to take action itself to clear the garden. It is for the Council to decide whether to pass any costs onto Ms F.
• If the Council decides Ms F has not complied with the notice in full, but has done so to the point it is satisfied then it should write to Mrs X fully outlining its reasons for not taking any further action.
42. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

43. I completed this investigation. I found fault and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman