Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s contact with Mr X’s managing agent.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s contact with his managing agent regarding his conviction of a criminal offence. He says the Council gave inaccurate information and wanted him evicted. He is also unhappy with the Council’s communications with him and its complaint-handling.

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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. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of housing let on a long lease by a council that is a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5B, schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and copy complaint correspondence from the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council owns the flat Mr X lives in. The Council leases the flat to a leaseholder, who rents it to Mr X.
6. The Council became involved in the events complained of because it owns the leasehold property and it was suggesting the terms of the lease might have been broken. Therefore this complaint is about the Council’s management of leasehold housing. This means the restriction in paragraph 2 applies and the Ombudsman has no power to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us from doing so.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman