Harlow District Council (21 005 300)
Category : Housing > Managing council tenancies
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Aug 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the management of social housing as the law does not allow us to investigate these complaints.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to help him when he was being harassed by a neighbour. Mr X says the Council told him his neighbour had moved out of the area but later found they had only moved a short distance away. Mr X is also unhappy that a Council officer contacted him whilst his complaint was being investigated.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. He is a Council tenant and his complaints relate to the Council’s actions managing social housing as a registered social housing provider.
- Mr X says that his complaint relates to the actions of officers. The Ombudsman considers that officers are acting on behalf of the Council and in this case the Council’s actions relate to the management of social housing. This includes the Council’s actions when responding to his complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it relates to the Council’s actions managing social housing as a registered social housing provider.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman