London Borough of Lewisham (20 003 052)
Category : Housing > Homelessness
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 09 Sep 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about the Council destroying the complainant’s belongings after she was evicted. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating complaints when a council is acting as a landlord.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains that the Council destroyed her belongings without taking adequate steps to contact her. Ms X would like compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I checked with the Council that Ms X was a Council tenant and that the decision to remove her belongings was made by the housing service. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.
What I found
What happened
- Ms X was a Council tenant. She was evicted by the Council’s housing service. The housing team made the decision to remove and destroy Ms X’s belongings.
- Ms X says she has lost all her personal belongings which has had a significant impact. Ms X says the Council did not take reasonable steps to contact her so she could collect her belongings. Ms X would like compensation.
Assessment
- The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate any complaint about the Council acting as a landlord. The Council, through its housing service, was acting as a landlord when it decided to evict Ms X and then destroy her belongings. This means I have no power to investigate the complaint.
Final decision
- I cannot start am investigation because I have no power to investigate a Council when it is acting as a landlord and carrying out housing management functions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman