Gravesham Borough Council (19 015 917)

Category : Housing > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 14 Feb 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The complaint is about matters related to a Council-owned property next to Mrs B’s home. The Ombudsman cannot pursue this complaint as he has no power to investigate complaints about the management of social housing.

The complaint

  1. Mrs B complains the Council has not dealt effectively with the actions of her neighbours, who are Council tenants. She states this has led to encroachment across her boundary and she has experienced inconvenience and incurred expense.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

  1. I considered the information Mrs B provided. I gave Mrs B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

  1. The house next to Mrs B’s house is owned by the Council as social housing. Its occupants are Council tenants. Mrs B argues the Council has not dealt properly with her neighbours’ actions which have affected her.
  2. The matters in this complaint all relate to the Council’s provision and management of its social housing. So the restriction in paragraph 3 applies. We have no power to investigate these matters.

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Final decision

  1. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Ombudsman has no legal power to investigate the management of social housing.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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