Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s response to his reports of disrepair in his private accommodation and harassment from his landlord. The Council took the steps I would expect it to in response to Mr X’s reports and it was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about how the Council responded when he reported issues of disrepair in his private accommodation and harassment from his landlord. He said he experienced distress and felt the Council’s inaction contributed to his later homelessness.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we will weigh up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. For this investigation, I:
• considered the information Mr X provided and discussed the complaint with him;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents it provided;
• looked at the relevant law and guidance, including the Housing Act 2004 and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977; and
• wrote to Mr X and the Council with my draft decision and gave them an opportunity to comment.

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What I found

6. Private landlords have a responsibility to make sure rented accommodation is maintained to a certain standard. This includes carrying out repairs, making sure appliances are safe to use and making sure furniture meets fire safety regulations.
7. Private tenants may complain to their council about a failure by the landlord to keep the property in good repair. Councils have powers to take enforcement action against private landlords where they identify a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk, if the landlord fails to do repair work.
8. Landlords or their agents have a legal right to enter the property at a reasonable time to carry out repairs and inspect the property. They must give 24 hours’ notice of an inspection in writing.

Harassment and illegal eviction

9. Landlords should allow tenants quiet enjoyment of their property. Landlords are not entitled to try to force tenants out of the property through harassment, threatening behaviour or changing the locks.
10. Private tenants may complain to their council if their landlord is harassing them or trying to evict them. Councils have powers to investigate complaints of harassment and illegal eviction, and to prosecute a landlord where they commit an offence.

What happened

The door to Mr X’s flat

11. In December 2017 Mr X contacted the Council’s private sector housing team, after the fire service had responded to a fire in the property next door. The fire service also contacted the Council and reported the door to Mr X’s flat had a hole in it.
12. The Council inspected the common parts of the building at the beginning of January 2018. It recorded Mr X’s door was badly damaged. It advised the letting agent the door should be replaced urgently. It arranged to visit Mr X the next day but it recorded he did not answer the door when it visited. The officer left a card.
13. Mr X says it was seven weeks before the door was replaced. Council records show the letting agent told the Council the door had been replaced in mid-January, one month after the fire service contacted it.
14. Mr X says the Council took no action to chase repairs and it instead believed the landlord. Council records show it visited in February and March, and was satisfied the door had been replaced.
15. In July 2018, the Council visited to inspect the property after Mr X had contacted it again about various issues. The Council told the landlord’s agents the door’s lock should be replaced with a thumb-turn lock and a self-closer should be fitted to the door. The repairs had not been completed when Mr X was evicted from his property at the end of 2018.

The heating

16. Mr X reported issues with his heating to the letting agent at the end of February 2018. Mr X says he complained a lot to the letting agent as the heating kept breaking, and it took four weeks for them to replace storage heaters. The letting agent says it instructed a contractor the same day Mr X contacted it. Mr X reported this issue to the Council in March.
17. The Council says after the landlord approved quotes, the issue was resolved at the beginning of March, four working days after Mr X reported it. The Council closed the service request in March.

The smoke detection system

18. The fire service contacted the Council in December 2017 and reported smoke alarms in the building were either missing or not working. The Council advised the landlord at the beginning of January 2018 the property did not have the required fire detection system.
19. As detailed above, the Council arranged to visit Mr X at the beginning of January 2018 but it recorded Mr X did not answer the door.
20. When the Council was able to visit Mr X at the beginning of February 2018, it saw the landlord’s contractor had started installing a fire detection system. It emailed the landlord with further advice about the requirements of the system.
21. The Council visited again at the beginning of March and recorded all works were complete. In mid-March it received certificates for the system and recorded no further action was needed.

The bathroom and shower

22. Mr X reported issues to the letting agent in February 2018 about his shower not getting hot enough and having low pressure. Mr X reported this to the Council in March. The shower was replaced at the beginning of March, six working days after Mr X reported it to the letting agent. The Council closed the service request.
23. Mr X contacted the Council in June 2018 saying repairs had not been carried out and the bathroom floor was rotting and bowing. He said he could not use the shower because it leaked and affected the electrics. He said he had contacted the letting agent but they had not resolved the issues. The Council visited Mr X in July and found the shower was leaking into the flat below and the bathroom floor was uneven and rotting. It told the landlord’s agents a new bathroom was needed and the floor needed to be replaced.
24. Mr X says the landlord did not give permission for works. Evidence I have seen of discussions between the landlord and the Council show the landlord did not refuse to carry out the works. Their contractor could not gain access to Mr X’s property in July as Mr X had fitted an unauthorised padlock to the new door. The landlord told the Council they would arrange to stop the leak as soon as they could access the property. They said, however, they would not carry out other repairs to the bathroom until Mr X had moved out, and they were in the process of evicting him.
25. The Council explained to the landlord the eviction process could take some time and so they needed to carry out repairs to stop the leak immediately. The Council suggested the landlord arrange a visit in writing in advance and offered, as an alternative, to arrange an appointment with Mr X on the landlord’s behalf.
26. The landlord told the Council in August their contractor had been prepared to do the necessary works the previous two weekends but Mr X was refusing to allow access. They said Mr X was “messing the contractor around” when they were trying to schedule repairs. The Council offered to speak to Mr X. A later email between the Council’s environmental health and housing teams says the officer told Mr X on several occasions he needed to allow the contractor access and let them know his availability for this.
27. In September, the contractor gained access and carried out some of the works, but Mr X says the shower continued to leak and this affected the electrics downstairs. He says the downstairs ceiling fell down. Council records state Mr X and the landlord’s contractor confirmed in September 2018 the shower tray had been sealed. The contractor said they could not see a leak.
28. The Council told Mr X in October 2018 that his refusing to let the contractor access the property to complete works had delayed matters. The repairs had not been completed when Mr X was evicted from his property at the end of 2018.

Harassment from the landlord and their contractor

29. Mr X says there were incidents involving the landlord’s contractor, including violence directed towards his neighbour, stealing Mr X’s food, calling Mr X names due to his mental health difficulties, damage to his car and stealing furniture from another property. Mr X says he reported this several times, to the private sector housing team and a homelessness case officer, but the Council refused to help.
30. Mr X says he overheard a contractor saying they had been told to drill out the lock from his door so he would be locked out. Mr X changed the lock because of this.
31. The first record of Mr X reporting issues with the landlord’s contractor to the Council is in August 2018. The Council contacted Mr X’s landlord, who said the contractor had not assaulted Mr X’s neighbour. The landlord agreed to use a different contractor, on the advice of the Council. The Council’s records show
    Mr X told the landlord and the Council’s environmental health officer in October 2018 he would not allow the contractor in.
32. Mr X was eventually evicted at the end of 2018, which was after he had reported issues of disrepair and harassment. Mr X’s landlord had served him a notice of their intent to evict him due to arrears in February 2018. Mr X’s arrears had built from late 2017, which was before he had reported the issues to the Council.

Analysis

The door to Mr X’s flat

33. The letting agent advised the Council the door to Mr X’s flat had been replaced in January 2018. Mr X told me the Council believed the letting agent rather than checking itself whether works had been carried out. However, it visited afterwards to inspect and was satisfied the door had been replaced. Mr X did not report further issues with the door to the Council.
34. After it visited again in July 2018, the Council advised the landlord the door did not have the correct type of lock or a self-closer. These were issues that meant the door would have caused a hazard in the event of a fire. These works were not completed until after Mr X moved out of the property. However, the Council was in regular contact with Mr X’s landlord and before Mr X moved out, the landlord’s contractor had difficulties with accessing his flat.
35. The Council focused on ensuring the landlord carried out the most urgent works. It is a private landlord’s, rather than the Council’s, duty to maintain accommodation they let out. The Council has powers to take formal action where a landlord does not carry out necessary works. While some works were not carried out promptly, this was not because the landlord was not cooperating. The Council therefore did not take formal action, and this is a decision it was entitled to make. The Council was not at fault.

The heating

36. Mr X says it took four weeks for the heating to be fixed, however the Council says it was fixed in March 2018, four working days after he had reported it. As Mr X did not raise the issue further with the Council and as there is no substantive evidence the work was not completed in March, on the evidence seen, the council is not at fault.

The smoke detection system

37. The Council inspected the fire detection system after the fire service contacted it. It spoke to the landlord about the works that were required. It tried to visit Mr X at the beginning of January as arranged, but its records state Mr X did not answer the door. The Council therefore issued a notice to say it intended to enter the flat in February 2018. The Council inspected before and after works were carried out. It obtained a copy of the system’s certificates after it had been installed. The Council took the action I would expect and it was not at fault.

The bathroom and shower

38. The contractor replaced Mr X’s shower in March 2018. The Council closed the service request because it believed works were complete, and Mr X did not contact it to say if they were not. Mr X contacted the Council again in June, and it visited and identified further necessary work. It contacted the letting agent and the landlord, who were willing to carry out urgent work to stop the leak. The Council advised the landlord on their legal responsibilities and offered to help with arranging appointments for the works. Repairs were not carried out in a timely way but this is not due to fault by the Council.

Harassment from the landlord and their contractor

39. Mr X reported the contractor’s behaviour to the Council in August 2018. The Council gathered further information. It advised the landlord to use a different contractor for the work and the landlord agreed to this. Some of the behaviours Mr X alleges have been raised with the police, as they are not matters for the Council.
40. Mr X’s landlord evicted him because he had arrears. Although Mr X was complaining about disrepair at the time, the Council had not served any notices on the landlord for works as it was satisfied the landlord was carrying out repairs appropriately. The Council had no reason to believe the landlord had not carried out works as Mr X alleges. The landlord wished to carry out repairs but Mr X would not always allow their contractor access. The eviction was not illegal and Mr X’s later homelessness was not due to fault by the Council.

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Final decision

41. I have not found fault in the Council’s actions. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman