Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about information the Council provided to the complainant about parking permits before he signed a tenancy. This is because we have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, says the Council did not tell him that a property he was considering renting is part of a car-capped development. He also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint. Mr X wants the Council to give him a parking permit.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X is a Council tenant. Before he accepted the tenancy, a housing officer showed him the property. Mr X says the officer did not tell him the property is part of a car-capped development. Mr X says that when he asked about parking the officer told him to apply via the Council’s website.
6. After accepting the tenancy Mr X found out the property is excluded from the parking permit scheme because it is within a car-capped development. Mr X says the terms and conditions did not refer to the permit restriction. He has received Penalty Charge Notices and says he would not have accepted the property if had known about the permit restriction.
7. In response to his complaint, the Council explained why Mr X cannot have a permit. It said it was regrettable if the restriction was not explained in advance but said it would have been stated in the terms and conditions. The Council said it cannot change the policy and the restriction was agreed as part of the planning consent. It reiterated that Mr X is ineligible for a permit.
8. Mr X says the Council did not tell him about the restriction in advance. I appreciate the impact but I have no power to start an investigation because we cannot investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord and carrying out housing management functions. A council housing officer did the viewing and it would have been for the housing service to provide information relating to a potential tenancy; this means I cannot investigate the complaint.
9. Mr X complains about the way the Council responded to his complaint. I will not investigate this part of the complaint because the courts have said we can decide not to investigate any issue relating to a complaint, when we cannot investigate the main issue. The issues regarding the complaint handling are too closely linked to the housing management issue to allow us to investigate.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate this complaint because we have no power to start an investigation which concerns a council acting as a landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman