London Borough of Croydon (25 020 644)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about a boundary matter relating to the adjoining Council-owned property. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord.
The complaint
- Mr B complains his property boundary has been encroached by the actions of a Council tenant of the adjoining property, which is owned and managed by the Council. Mr B says the Council has delayed taking action about this matter which has caused him significant distress, frustration and uncertainty. Mr B also complains the Council has failed to respond to his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr B.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr B owns his property. The adjoining property is owned and managed by the Council as a Council tenancy.
- Mr B’s complaint is about the Council’s management of the adjoining property in its role as a social landlord. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by councils.
- This restriction to our powers applies to complaints about tenant behaviour and the handling of boundary disputes. This restriction also applies even if, as with this complaint, the person who has complained is not a Council tenant.
- This means we cannot investigate the issue Mr B complains about or the Council’s handling of his complaint.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is about the management of social housing by the Council as a social landlord.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman