Private housing

London Borough of Ealing (18 003 363)

Statement Upheld Private housing 10-Jan-2019

Summary: Mr B complains the Council went back on an undertaking to make a second incentive payment to him as a landlord for renting his property to a tenant put forward by the Council. Had he known the Council would not make a second payment then he could have rented the property to a different local authority or rented the property privately and received a higher rent. The Council failed to provide information to landlords about the direct let scheme and gave incorrect information to Mr B. The Council has already apologised to Mr B and it will pay him £1933 within one month of the date of this decision.

Slough Borough Council (17 014 835)

Statement Upheld Private housing 17-Dec-2018

Summary: Mr B complained about the Council's handling of problems with the condition of his privately rented home. The Council did not deal properly with some points and did not communicate properly with Mr B. This caused Mr B avoidable uncertainty, time and trouble and some anxiety. To put matters right, the Council agreed actions including paying Mr B £500 and reviewing what happened here. However, we do not find the property's state of repair is likely to have been different because of the Council's faults.

Wiltshire Council (18 009 287)

Statement Not upheld Private housing 12-Dec-2018

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council refuses to remove an improvement notice against her property even though she has met the notice's requirements. There was no fault in the Council's actions.

Thanet District Council (17 019 690)

Statement Upheld Private housing 08-Nov-2018

Summary: There is no evidence of fault with the Council's inspections of disrepair issues or in its enforcement of selective licensing conditions. But, at times, its communication with Mrs X should have been clearer. The Council should have also taken a homelessness application earlier.

Kent County Council (17 011 500)

Statement Not upheld Private housing 30-Oct-2018

Summary: Mr B has complained that he has been left without affordable heating because of the way the Council and its contractor handled his application for a grant to replace his gas heating. The Ombudsman does not consider that there was any significant fault in the way the Council dealt with the application.

London Borough of Croydon (18 002 685)

Statement Not upheld Private housing 20-Sep-2018

Summary: Mr X complains the Council supported him to move into a property it knew to be uninhabitable, and refused to act against the landlords. The Council is not at fault. The Council's discretionary housing payment team was unaware the property was uninhabitable. Once the Council was aware of the issues it made Mr X several offers to support with a move out of the property and carried out a suitable investigation into Mr X's landlord.

Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (17 019 633)

Statement Upheld Private housing 17-Sep-2018

Summary: there was no fault in the way the Environmental Health Service investigated Miss X's complaint about poor housing conditions in her former private rented accommodation. But there was fault in the way it handled her complaint.

Birmingham City Council (18 000 033)

Statement Upheld Private housing 07-Sep-2018

Summary: The Council is not at fault in sending a letter to Mr X notifying him of repairs required to a property. But the Council was at fault as its contact centre did not appropriately deal with Mr X's telephone calls about the letter. As a result Mr X was put to avoidable time and trouble and caused anxiety as he had to make a number of unnecessary telephone calls. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X's injustice by apologising and making a payment of £100 to acknowledge the injustice caused to him.

London Borough of Enfield (16 018 533)

Statement Upheld Private housing 07-Sep-2018

Summary: Miss X complains the Council has failed to effectively manage or monitor the installation of a new boiler in her home under its 'Warm and Healthy Homes' scheme. The Council's lack of communication and delay in carrying out remedial works amounts to fault causing an injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice.

Melton Borough Council (16 012 460)

Statement Upheld Private housing 06-Sep-2018

Summary: The Council has properly considered Mr X's complaints of harassment by his landlord. But its communication with Mr X was poor which caused him anxiety and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Mr X and making a payment of £150 to him. The Council will also ensure it keeps appropriate records and draw up a policy for investigating tenants' complaints of harassment by landlords.