Summary: We will not investigate Mr Q’s complaint about the Council’s handling of disrepair in his privately rented flat. This is because he has not suffered significant injustice, nor are we likely to find fault with the Council. In any event, the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I have called Mr Q, complained about the actions of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council. Among other things, he complained the Council

• took too long to inspect after he reported his kitchen ceiling had collapsed;
• officers were on the side of the landlord; and
• it did not take further action after it served an Improvement Notice on the landlord.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr Q provided. I considered Mr Q’s response to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

6. Landlords have the right of appeal against Improvement Notices to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). When a landlord appeals, a council cannot take any action to enforce an Improvement Notice until the FTT has reached its decision on the appeal.

What happened

7. Mr Q lived in a privately rented flat. In August 2019 his kitchen ceiling collapsed. He reported it to the Council. Mr Q said the Council took a month to inspect his kitchen.
8. In October 2019 the Council served an Improvement Notice on Mr Q’s landlord. In November 2019 the landlord appealed against the Notice to the FTT. Mr Q said the Council did not take any further action on the Improvement Notice and officers were on his landlord’s side.
9. In May 2020 Mr Q moved out of the flat because no progress had been made repairing it. In June 2020 Mr Q complained to the Council. The Council responded to Mr Q in October 2020 and advised him he could bring his complaint to us.
10. The FTT made its decision in January 2021, dismissing the landlord’s appeal. Mr Q complained to us in February 2021. He said he waited for the FTT’s decision before doing so.

Assessment

11. We will not investigate this complaint.
12. Mr Q said the Council took a month to inspect his property after his ceiling collapsed. However, the alleged delay merely delayed the landlord’s appeal to the FTT by a month. As Mr Q left the flat long before he knew the outcome of the appeal, the Council’s alleged delay did not cause him a significant injustice.
13. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council for failing to take action after it served the Improvement Notice. This is because it could not take any action between November 2019 (when the landlord appealed to the FTT) and January 2021 (when the FTT made its decision).
14. Even if this were not the case, Mr Q was aware of the Council’s alleged lack of action in 2019. He did not complain to the Council until June 2020 after he moved out of the flat. And he did not complain to us until February 2021, around four months after the Council told him he could do so. Mr Q did not need to wait for the FTT’s decision before bringing his complaint to us. So the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to consider it now.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Assessment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman