London Borough of Hillingdon (25 010 649)
Category : Environment and regulation > Trees
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about damage to his property he said was caused by a Council owned tree. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to take the matter to court to achieve the outcome he seeks.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about damage to his property he said was caused by a Council owned tree.
- Mr X says the matter has caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained his property was damaged by root ingress from a Council owned tree. Mr X said the tree caused subsistence of his property and damage. Mr X’s complaint is therefore that the Council was negligent in its management of the tree and that it is liable for the damage to his property.
- We will not investigate this complaint. The role of the Ombudsman is to consider complaints of administrative fault. We cannot decide liability in complaints about damage to property. We cannot decide whether an organisation has been negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages.
- Consequently, we would usually expect someone in Mr X’s position to seek a remedy in the courts directly, or through his insurers. Because the Ombudsman cannot make the finding Mr X seeks, and cannot award the outcome he wants, it is reasonable to expect him to use or to have used the court, and so we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect him to take the matter to court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman