London Borough of Waltham Forest (23 019 045)
Category : Housing > Managing council tenancies
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his complaint about the behaviour of a Council tenant. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by councils.
The complaint
- Mr B complains the Council has not taken prompt and appropriate action after his neighbour, who is a Council tenant, moved the garden boundary fence onto Mr B’s land and damaged his property.
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 Mr B.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B’s neighbour is a Council tenant. Mr B complains about the Council’s lack of action in its role as the landlord of the neighbouring property.
- We cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord. This restriction applies to complaints like Mr B’s complaint which are about tenant behaviour and the management and maintenance of boundary features.
- This means we cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint and have no discretion to start an investigation.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is about the management of social housing by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman