Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it relates to the Council’s actions or failure to act in its capacity as a registered social landlord, which is not in our remit.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s actions following a fire at a neighbouring property and its failure to respond to her complaint. Ms X said the Council’s failings added to the worry and stress that she and other neighbours suffered and continue to suffer as a result of incidents involving the Council property.

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

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My assessment

What happened

6. Ms X lives close to a Council property in which a vulnerable Council tenant lived. She said she and other close neighbours suffered many years of anti-social behaviour (ASB) from the Council tenant and their associates. However, the neighbours did not report concerns to the Council as they believed the Council was supporting the tenant. In June 2025, there was a fire in the Council property, which could have spread to other properties.
7. Following the fire, Ms X said the Council delayed securing the property, so the tenant kept returning to it, causing neighbours to worry about a further fire. Ms X also said the police had told her there was asbestos in the property, which she says the Council has not addressed, and this has caused worry about the safety of the environment around the property. Ms X said the Council held a meeting, in which it accepted some mistakes due to a lack of joined-up working. However, it did not respond to Ms X’s contacts or complaint.

My assessment

8. When dealing with tenant behaviour and disrepair in the property, the Council is acting as a social landlord. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a Council acting as a registered social housing provider. This means we cannot investigate this part of the complaint.
9. The Council has general powers to address ASB, and we can consider complaints about how it considered and used those general powers. However, it appears Ms X and the other neighbours did not report ASB to the Council at the time. In any case, we could not investigate the way the Council used its tenancy management powers to address ASB by one of its tenants.
10. For the above reasons, we will not consider this complaint further.

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Final decision

11. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it relates to the Council’s action or failure to act in its capacity as a registered social landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman