London Borough of Islington (23 002 459)
Category : Housing > Managing council tenancies
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 30 Nov 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about problems with Mrs X’s heating and hot water. The law prevents us investigating.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of problems with a communal boiler, including repairs, disconnecting her property from the communal boiler and the amount of money the Council offered to resolve her complaint.
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 considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The restriction described in paragraph 2 does not just apply to complaints from or about a council’s social housing tenants. The law prevents the Ombudsman investigating complaints about:
“Action which—
(a) is taken by or on behalf of a local authority in its capacity as a registered provider of social housing, and
(b) is action in connection with its housing activities so far as they relate to the provision or management of social housing…”
- The Council is a registered social housing provider. The block where Mrs X lives was originally Council social housing, which was where the Council’s responsibility for the boiler came from. Many of the properties in the block are still social housing. So the Council’s responsibility for the communal boiler and its related actions are all action in connection with its housing activities so far as they relate to the management of social housing. Therefore the restriction in paragraph 2 applies. The fact that Mrs X is not herself a Council social housing tenant does not change this. It is the nature of the Council’s involvement with the properties that is relevant to our powers.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us doing so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman