Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to remove rubbish from land adjacent to his property boundary. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the land belongs to a social housing landlord and complaints about the management of this land are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s housing authority failing to remove tipped rubbish next to his property boundary. He says the alleyway between his home and another has been accessed by fly tippers who dumped rubbish against his rear fence over a period of time. He says the Council said it would clear the land but has failed to do so.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response and Mr X has been given the opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr X says he has been complaining since early 2018 about rubbish piled against his boundary which prevents him enjoying his garden. He reported the waste to the Council’s housing department which owns the land and it informed him it would remove the waste. He says this has not taken place.
5. The land where the waste was left is part of an estate owned by the housing authority. Mr X has been corresponding with the housing landlord and it has told him it is responsible for the access and the land which is not a public right of way.
6. Since 2013 the Ombudsman has had no jurisdiction to investigate the actions of social housing landlords and cannot do so. This restriction applies to Mr X’s complaint because the land is managed by the housing authority, not the highway authority.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the land belongs to a social housing landlord and complaints about the management of this land are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman