Summary: The law says we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a delay in carrying out works to his property because the Council is acting as registered social landlord when carrying out work to its own housing stock.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s long delay in carrying out disabled adaptations and repair work to his Council property. He also complained about the Council’s delay in responding to his complaint at stage 2 of its complaints process. He said the family’s physical and mental health had been affected, and that he had been put to considerable time and effort chasing the Council for responses to his communications.

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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.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained about delays in carrying out disabled adaptations and repair work to his Council property. This included adaptations to his garden, which is currently inaccessible, and repair work, including to address damp and mould. In its complaint response, the Council said the delays were due to the need to resolve a dispute about work Mr X had done to the property without its agreement.
7. Mr X is a Council tenant. In carrying out work to his property, the Council is acting as a registered social landlord. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about councils when they are acting as a registered social landlord. Therefore, we cannot investigate this complaint.
8. We do not investigate a Council’s complaints handling unless we are also investigating the underlying complaint.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council is acting as registered social landlord which is outside our scope.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman