Summary: Miss C complains about the Council’s decision not to prosecute her landlord for illegal eviction and the way it conducted its investigation. She also complains about the Council response to protect her property. The Ombudsman does not find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss C complains the Council did not take action against her landlord, who she says illegally evicted her from her property and harassed her.
2. Miss C also complains the Council;
• failed to protect her belongings;
• did not investigate her allegation of illegal eviction thoroughly;
• failed to contact a witness to the eviction; and
• lied about contact with the witness and Police.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the complaint as detailed above.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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’. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. When considering complaints, if there is a conflict of evidence, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means we will weight up the available relevant evidence and base our findings on what we think was more likely to have happened.
6. 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

7. During my investigation I:
• considered the information Miss C provided and discussed the complaint with her;
• made enquiries with the Council and considered its response;
• considered the relevant law and guidance, including the Housing Act 2004 and Protection from Eviction Act 1977; and
• looked at relevant council policy and guidance.
8. Miss C and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

Relevant law, guidance and Council Policy

Disrepair

9. Private landlords have a responsibility to make sure rented accommodation is maintained to a certain standard. This includes carrying out repairs.
10. 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.
11. The Council policy says:
• It may take informal action where the seriousness of the act or omission is such that formal action is not required. Informal action includes warnings and requests for action, both verbally and in writing.
• It will carry out inspections of properties in greatest need. This will usually be where it has received a complaint or where it has a statutory duty.
• There may be situations where it considers ceasing to provide a service. This includes where the tenant has requested a service then failed to keep an appointment.

Harassment and illegal eviction

12. It is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without following the correct legal steps. Illegal eviction can include:
• forcing a tenant to leave by threatening or harassing them;
• physically removing them;
• stopping a tenant getting into parts of their home; and/or
• changing the locks.
13. Harassment can be any action a landlord takes to deliberately disrupt a tenant’s life or make them leave the property.
14. 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.
15. The Council says it will take a ‘proactive stance against illegal eviction and/or harassment and offer support, advice and assistance to residents in this situation’.

Protection of property

16. Council’s must take reasonable steps to protect belonging’s if there is reason to believe there is a danger of loss or damage and no other suitable arrangements have been made.
17. This duty will exist in certain circumstance, including where the Council has a relief duty.
18. Council’s can make reasonable charges for storage and removal.

What happened

19. In November 2018 Miss C contacted the Council to report disrepair at her property. She reported a hole under the stairs, lack of heating to the first floor and an issue with the rear exit door. A Housing Officer wrote to Miss C’s landlord the same day. The letter outlined the repairs and requested the landlord carried out the required work within 14 days.
20. Miss C spoke to a Housing Advice Officer the day after the Council sent her landlord a letter about the repairs. She was given advice about what she should do if her landlord tried to evict her.
21. At the beginning of December 2018 Miss C contacted the Council to report she lost her keys and during the process of installing a new lock at the property an altercation took place between her, the landlord and the landlord’s sister. Miss C says during this altercation she was assaulted, she reported this incident to the Police.
22. The following day Miss C contacted the Council to report the repairs had not been carried out. The Council spoke to the landlord, who said she was having difficulties with Miss C and there had been arguments. The landlord agreed to a joint meeting with Miss C and the Council to attempt to resolve these issues.
23. The meeting was arranged for the following week. Miss C was not present at the address when the Council Officer attended. She later texted the Officer to request another appointment. Miss C says she did not attend because she was too unwell. There are no further records in relation to the repairs issue.
24. Later in December Miss C contacted the Council to report her landlord had removed some of her belongings from the property into the street and changed the locks. This information was given to Miss C by her neighbour. The Council said it would contact the landlord and advised Miss C to return to the property to establish what had happened.
25. Miss C attended the Council Offices six days later, because the Offices were closed over the Christmas period. She said the landlord had changed the locks and put some of her belongings in the street. The Council placed Miss C in temporary accommodation the same day and arranged an appointment to take a witness statement from her about the alleged illegal eviction.
26. Miss C did not attend the appointment to make a statement. Miss C asked the Council to support her to collect some of her belongings from the property. The Council organised this with the landlord and arranged for a Council Officer to be present at the address. A Housing Officer went to the property on the agreed date and time. Miss C says she was too unwell to meet with the Officer, as arranged, and she requested another appointment.
27. The Housing Officer asked the landlord about the allegation she removed Miss C’s belongings from the property and changed the locks. The landlord denied this; she said she secured the property because neighbours had removed items from the address and put them at the rear of the property.
28. The Council agreed to organise and pay for a van to collect Miss C’s belongings from the property to resolve the issue.
29. The landlord contacted the Council to ask if Miss C would be removing the items left outside the property in black bags. Miss C told the Council she did not know if they were hers. There is no further record of what was in the black bags or what happened to them.
30. Miss C says she cancelled or rearranged her appointments to make a witness statement about the eviction because of her ill health. She made the statement in late January 2019.
31. The Council contacted a potential witness to the eviction, who agreed to provide a statement. They failed to attend the appointment and did not reply to messages from the Council.
32. The Council contacted the Police about Miss C’s allegation of assault. The Police confirmed there was an investigation but did not provide any further information. The Council contacted Miss C to request a copy of the Police report. Miss C did not provide a copy of the report. The Council did not make any further efforts to obtain a copy of the report from the Police.
33. The Council contacted Miss C in April 2019 to advise her that without a witness statement, there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the illegal eviction complaint.
34. The Council provided me with a copy of a Form 6A Notice seeking possession of a property let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. This notice is dated 21/10/2018 and required Miss C to leave the property after 20/11/2018. The Council has not provided information about when they received a copy of this or when it is alleged to have been served. Miss C says this notice was served after the Council wrote to her landlord about the repairs.
35. A Housing Advice and Welfare Officer classified the notice as invalid because it only gave a period of one month before requiring possession. The Council contacted the landlord and explained she would need to reissue the notice with the correct period of two months.
36. The Council rehoused Miss C to more permanent accommodation in July 2019 and paid her first week’s rent in advance to secure the property.

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Analysis

Disrepair

37. Miss C says there were issues with the condition of the property she was renting and she reported this to the Council. The Council decided to take an informal approach to attempt to resolve this and it wrote to the landlord. The Council arranged to visit the property to carry out an inspection within one month of writing to the landlord.
38. I do not find fault in the way the Council handled Miss C’s report of disrepair at her rented property. The Council responded to the report in a timely and proportionate manner. It is usual for councils to take an informal approach in the first instance to try to resolve complaints of disrepair. The Council tried to inspect the property but Miss C was unable to give the Officer access when they attended the property because she was too ill. The disrepair issue was then superseded by the eviction.

Harassment and illegal eviction

39. When Miss C first contacted the Council about an allegation of illegal eviction the information she provided was from a third party. It is not fault for the Council to require further information to assess the situation before treating Miss C as homeless. There was a six-day delay in Miss C providing this update, which Miss says was due to the Council Offices being closed for Christmas. When she did attend the Council to say she had been illegally evicted the Council took this seriously. It housed her in temporary accommodation and started an investigation into the illegal eviction.
40. The records I have seen show the Council’s efforts to support Miss C and liaise with the landlord on her behalf to arrange the collection and transport of her belongings to her new address.
41. As part of my investigation I requested information about how the Council investigated the allegation of illegal eviction. From the information I received I can see the Council took a statement from Miss C and attempted to take a statement from a witness. The Council also contacted the Police.
42. Part of Miss C’s complaint is the Council failed to contact the witness and lied about contact with the witness and Police. The Council provided copies of the email communication it had with the Police. It also provided a timeline of officer notes and contact, which show records of contact with the witness. I have no reason to doubt the integrity of this information. I do not uphold this aspect of Miss C’s complaint.
43. The Council made a number of attempts to obtain a statement from the witness, but the witness failed to attend the appointments. The Council asked Miss C to provide a copy of the Police report, but the records show this was not sent to the Council. Miss C thinks the Council should have obtained the Police Report. The Council could have pursued this, but it was always open to Miss C to provide this information.
44. The threshold for prosecuting a landlord for illegal eviction is high, as it is a criminal offence. The Council had to consider the likelihood of conviction based on the information it had gathered during the investigation.
45. I consider the Council investigation of the illegal eviction was limited but does not amount to fault. I do not find fault in the way the Council investigated the allegation or came to the decision not to prosecute the landlord.

Belongings

46. I asked the Council what duty it had in relation to Miss C’s belongings. In response it said it did not have a formal duty. But it provided temporary accommodation and has assisted in securing permanent accommodation for Miss C. Therefore, it did have a ‘protection of property’ duty.
47. However, whether or not it thinks it had a duty to Miss C, it did provide support and assistance in relation to her belongings. It attempted to support Miss C to collect her belongings. When this didn’t work out it arranged and funded the collection and transport of her belongings to her new property.
48. I do not find fault in the way the Council dealt with Miss C’s property following her eviction. The Council acted to protect Miss C’s property.
49. Furthermore, I cannot know what was in the black bags and who they belonged to because there was insufficient evidence in relation to this aspect of the complaint. However, I have formed the opinion that if there was damage caused to any of the items it would not be because of fault on the part of the Council.

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Final decision

50. I do not find fault in the way the Council investigated Miss C’s allegation of illegal eviction or its decision not to prosecute her landlord. I also do not find fault in the way the Council acted in relation to Miss C’s belongings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman