Summary: Mrs X complains about how the Council has dealt with party wall issues in connection to the neighbouring council-owned property. The law prevents us investigating the Council’s actions regarding the wall.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has failed to deal properly with her requests for a meeting to discuss a party wall issue.

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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. 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and information from the Council about its ownership of the property in question.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council is a registered provider of social housing. Mrs X’s neighbour lives in a Council owned property.
6. The restriction in paragraph 2 prevents us considering anything ‘in connection with’ the Council’s management of social housing. Therefore, we cannot investigate the Council’s actions regarding the party wall.

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The law prevents us investigating the Council’s actions regarding the wall.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman