Summary: Mr B complained the Council failed to take action to require his landlord to resolve problems of disrepair and hazards in his home. He said this meant he had to live in a property in an unsatisfactory and dangerous condition. There was no fault by the Council

The complaint

1. I call the complainant Mr B. He complained the Council failed to take action to require his landlord to resolve problems of disrepair and hazards in his home. He said this meant he had to live in a property in an unsatisfactory and dangerous condition.

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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. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
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. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Mr B. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Mr B and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Summary of events

6. Mr B lives a flat and his tenancy agreement is with a housing association. He complained to us in 2019 about the failure of the Council to ensure the disrepair was resolved. In July that year the Council served an improvement notice. It required the following works to be done:
• Replace the radiator in the rear bathroom including a thermostatic radiator valve;
• Remove existing windows in the ground floor middle bedroom, ground floor middle bathroom, ground floor back addition kitchen left window and the door in the ground floor back addition. Supply and fit new double glazed windows and half glazed door of similar design;
• Hack off all cracked, unkeyed or loose render near the windows and re-render;
• Provide a light to the top section of the cellar staircase;
• Works to the rears garden;
• Replace the bulb to the ground floor hallway and check circuit if necessary;
• Provide a plug to the middle bathroom wash hand basin.

The first two points were category one hazards, the remainder category two. I explain more about this categorisation below.

7. At the end of March 2020 the Council was satisfied the works had been completed and revoked the notice.
8. In October Mr B complained again to the Council and to us. As it appeared Mr B had not raised the current matters with the Council we referred him back to the Council.
9. Mr B complained to the Council in March. The Council said that any matters of disrepair he should raise with his landlord. Mr B renewed his complaint with us.

Analysis

The regulatory framework

10. Mr B is a tenant of a housing association. In that situation the Council has the same duty to investigate reports of disrepair as if approached by a private tenant. It has powers to enforce against landlords where it identifies a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk. These powers involve use of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).
11. In practice, the arrangements between councils and housing associations may differ from those between councils and many private landlords. Government guidance on HHSRS specifically states that “informal working with [housing associations] is seen as preferable to resorting to formal enforcement measures”.
12. The HHSRS applies a risk based approach to different hazards associated with poor quality housing. It includes consideration of matters such as damp and mould, personal hygiene sanitation and drainage, electrical hazards and structural safety. Category 1 hazards are the most serious. Councils have legal powers to require landlords or property owners take immediate action to remedy these. Category 2 hazards may also require action by landlords, but councils can reasonably allow longer for their remedy.
13. Government guidance says that if a council receives a complaint about housing conditions it can reasonably prioritise inspections. But “it is good practice to carry out as full an inspection of the premises as soon possible” and that it “must” arrange an inspection if alerted to potential category 1 or category 2 hazards
14. The key issue here is the Council’s decision in March 2020 that it was satisfied with the works done and could revoke the notice. The guidance says that a Council may need to make a judgement that, although the terms of the notice itself may not have been fully complied with, the hazard has ceased to be a category 1 hazard and they do not intend to take further action.
15. In reaching the decision the Council had contact with the housing association about the works done and photographs were provided. This was at the time of the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic so the Council did not inspect. But I consider the information it had was sufficient for it to decide that it could revoke the notice.
16. Before it did so it emailed Mr B asking him to say whether he considered there were any outstanding works. Mr B did not receive this email. He said this was because he can only access email at the local library and by the time the email was sent it was after the lockdown. The Council commented that it was unaware that this was the only way Mr B could receive emails. It was unfortunate Mr B did not receive the email, but I cannot say it was because of any fault by the Council. And, in any event, the Council was still entitled to make the decision to revoke the notice.
17. The Council sent Mr B a copy of the revocation decision by post at the end of March 2020 so that informed him of the action taken.
18. Mr B considers there are still hazards at the property and has provided many photographs. The Council does not consider that the photographs show evidence of hazards and does not consider there are grounds for it to become involved. It says Mr B needs to raise matters of disrepair with the housing association. I understand Mr B considers that the issues are more than disrepair and are hazards which means the Council should become involved. But I consider the Council has properly considered the information he has provided and reached a sound decision that there is no evidence of hazards.

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Final decision

19. There was no fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman