Summary: The Council was not at fault in the way it responded to reports of noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour. It followed its procedures to gather evidence, and it considered mediation. It gave advice to others to reduce the noise.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that, between June 2021 and February 2022, the Council did not respond to her complaints about noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour (ASB) from a neighbouring council tenant. Mrs X says this impacted on her business and she had to relocate as a result, which led to unnecessary costs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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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How I considered this complaint

4. I spoke to Mrs X and considered the information she provided.
5. I considered the Council’s comments and the information it provided.
6. I considered the Council’s published guidance on neighbourhood noise enforcement and ASB.
7. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

8. The Council’s housing management service has a policy for dealing with ASB complaints about its tenants. It says a housing officer will work in partnership with others to deal with the complaint, and this may include having the case referred to a mediation service.
9. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 says councils must investigate complaints about noise that could be a statutory nuisance. This may include noise from a house.
10. There is no fixed point when something becomes a statutory nuisance. Councils will rely on council officers to gather evidence.
11. The Council’s website says it will write to the person who is causing the noise to try and resolve the complaint. The Council’s website also says that, where the noise is continuing, they will gather further evidence to support any enforcement action.

What happened

12. In June 2021, Mrs X complained to her landlord about noise caused by the tenants in the flat above hers. The same landlord had leased the upstairs property to the Council and the tenants had been placed there by the Council.
13. A Council housing officer discussed the options available to the landlord to try and reduce the noise. They said he could consider ‘taking a break’ from their lease arrangements which would mean Council tenants could no longer be housed in the property.
14. The housing officer suggested Mrs X report the matter as a noise nuisance to the environmental health department. They explained the Council could act against one of its own tenants where there was evidence of unreasonable noise.
15. In July, Mrs X reported the noise to the Council as a noise complaint. Two days later, the Council sent a letter to the tenant telling it the Council had received a complaint. It also sent a letter to Mrs X asking her to complete a diary of when the noise was happening along with providing it a description of the noise.
16. The letter highlighted the importance of returning the diary within 21 days of it being sent to Mrs X, to ensure the matter was investigated. It also said if Mrs X did not return the diary, the Council would assume the situation had improved and close the case.
17. In July, Mrs X contacted the Council directly on two occasions to report noise. On one of these occasions the Council reiterated its request for Mrs X to complete the diary.
18. In August, the Council’s environmental health team made a note on the case file, saying Mrs X had not submitted a diary to them. It closed the case.
19. In the same month, Mrs X’s landlord wrote to the housing officer, explaining Mrs X was still complaining about the noise caused by the tenants. Following this, the housing officer made a referral of Mrs X’s complaint to a mediation service.
20. In September, a mediation case worker spoke to Mrs X. The case worker made a record saying Mrs X would not participate in mediation and she did not want the Council tenant visited by the caseworker acting on her behalf. Mrs X gave reasons for this.
21. The case worker also recorded Mrs X telling her she had decided to give up her tenancy on the property where she was running her business.
22. In February 2022, Mrs X contacted the Council to report a fly infestation, which she said was coming from the Council tenant’s property.
23. Council officers from the housing management service visited the property but were not able to find any evidence the tenant was causing the infestation.

My findings

24. The Council’s policy for dealing with ASB by its tenants says the housing team will work with others to try and resolve complaints. The Council had discussions with the landlord of the property to try and reduce the noise by taking immediate practical steps, as well as highlighting other options available to the landlord to avoid larger families being housed in the property.
25. The housing officer also suggested Mrs X report the matter as a noise nuisance, because this would enable the Council to act against its tenants, if an investigation found there was a noise nuisance,
26. Mrs X made an initial report and contacted the Council on two occasions in July but did not complete the diary. The Council closed the noise nuisance complaint after the required period in line with its policy. There is no fault in the way the Council closed this complaint.
27. Around the same time as the case was closed by the environmental health team, the landlord contacted the housing officer to explain that noise was still an issue. They were not specific about whether this was before or after the noise nuisance complaint was closed. In response, the housing officer made a referral to a mediation service in line with its policy.
28. Mrs X did not want to participate in mediation or allow the case worker to approach the tenant causing the noise.
29. Finally, Mrs X reported a fly infestation coming from the property above. The council spoke to Mrs X and checked the property and found no evidence the tenant had caused the infestation.
30. There is no fault in how the Council responded to the further complaint of noise or the report of infestation.

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Final decision

31. The Council was not at fault in how it responded to Mrs X’s complaints of noise nuisance and ASB.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman