Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take sufficient action over neighbour nuisance by its tenants for over two years. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of tenancies by social housing landlords.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to prevent its tenants breaching their tenancy conditions by making noise in the home and garden and by installing CCTV cameras which overlook her home and affect her privacy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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 the complainant and the Council’s response.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X says the Council has handled her complaints about the behaviour of her neighbours who are council tenants poorly. She says that contact with her has been infrequent and that the neighbours have breached their tenancy conditions for over 2 years by creating excessive noise in the home and in the garden and by erecting CCTV cameras which she says are placed towards her home.
7. She made a formal complaint in early 2024 and says she has been complaining for some years before that. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period from when someone became aware of a problem. I have seen no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner.
8. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.
9. We have some discretion to consider older complaints but in this case we would not investigate even if Miss X had complained to us within 12 months. This is because her complaint concerns the management of council tenancies by a social housing landlord and this is the only Council service which has been involved with her complaint. We have had no jurisdiction to investigate these complaints since 2013 when the Housing Ombudsman Service assumed this role.

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Final decision

10. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to take sufficient action over neighbour nuisance by its tenants for over two years. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Miss X could not have complained to us sooner. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of tenancies by social housing landlords.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman