Summary: Mr X complains about disrepair in his property. He says he has issues with damp, mould, and mites. Mr X says the landlord has not resolved the disrepair in the property and the Council has taken no enforcement action against the landlord. He also complains the Council sent him incorrect council tax bills. We find no fault with the action taken by the Council to deal with the disrepair issues in Mr X’s property. We find fault with the Council for the incorrect council tax bills. However, the Council has already appropriately remedied this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about disrepair in his property. He says he has issues with damp, mould, and mites. Mr X says the landlord has not resolved the disrepair in the property and the Council has taken no enforcement action against the landlord. Mr X also complains the Council miscalculated his council tax bill and the Council has not sent him a correct bill. Mr X says the Council has discriminated against him and caused him distress.

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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 spoke with Mr X and considered the information he provided.
6. I made enquiries with the Council and considered the information it provided.
7. I sent a draft decision to Mr X and the Council and considered their comments.

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What I found

Council’s enforcement policy

8. The policy details how the Council will regulate standards in private rented housing. It notes the Council’s aim to raise standards in private sector housing and to work with landlords and tenants to achieve this.
9. The policy notes the Council will advise landlords of the action needed to take to comply with legislation. It also notes the Council will work with landlords to comply with required works within the agreed timescales.
10. The Council will only take formal action against landlords when it is not satisfied with how works are progressing, or if the landlord fails to take appropriate action. The policy also notes that any formal action will be proportionate and appropriate to the circumstances.

What happened

Disrepair issues

11. In March 2021, Mr X moved into a property.
12. In April 2021, Mr X made the Council aware of damp and mould issues in the property. The Council sent Mr X’s landlords a letter the same day highlighting the complaint and asked it to investigate and remedy as necessary. The Council advised that if the matter was not resolved within the next three weeks, the Council will complete an inspection of the property.
13. Mr X’s landlord responded on the same day to say the flat was newly refurbished and asked the Council to inspect the property.
14. The Council contacted Mr X and arranged to inspect the property on 20 April 2021. Following the inspection, the Council identified some hazards, and the improvement works needed to reduce and remove the risks.
15. Near the end of April 2021, the Council wrote to Mr X’s landlord setting out the required and recommended works. This was the request for improvement notice. The Council told Mr X’s landlord it had 60 days to complete the required works set out in the notice.
16. In May 2021, Mr X’s landlord commissioned a damp report for the property. The damp report recommended some works to fix the disrepair issues.
17. In June 2021, Mr X’s landlord asked the Council for an extension to complete the works needed as outlined in the request for improvement notice. The landlord advised the Council this was due to Mr X not cooperating to allow the works to be completed. The Council agreed to an extension to 20 July 2021.
18. In July 2021, the Council received the damp report. Near the end of July 2021, the Council reinspected Mr X’s property. The Council’s records noted it was satisfied the landlord had completed, or about to complete, all the works needed in the notice.
19. Mr X issued his landlord with a notice to quit on 26 July 2021. Mr X also raised a formal complaint with the Council.
20. In August 2021, Mr X retracted his notice to quit, which his landlord accepted. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint and outlined it had acted in line with its enforcement policy. The Council said it first takes informal steps to encourage landlords to fix disrepair issues. The Council explained it would only take formal enforcement action if landlords were not cooperative. The Council told Mr X it would continue to check the work outstanding and work with both Mr X and his landlord to resolve the disrepair.
21. In September 2021, Mr X left the property. The Council told Mr X’s landlord it did not need to follow the deadlines in the request for improvement notice since the property was empty. The Council advised the landlord it would need to follow the notice before the property being reoccupied. In response to our draft decision, Mr X said he did not leave in September 2021, he said he left in October 2021.
22. In November 2021, the Council confirmed the landlord had complied with all works within its request for improvement notice and the damp report. The Council closed the case
23. In response to our draft decision, Mr X disputed he did not cooperate with his landlord. He says he did cooperate but the contractors were incompetent and so he did not want to inconvenience himself further.

Council tax

24. Mr X complained the Council had sent him wrong council tax bills. Mr X’s council tax bills covered three addresses.
25. The Council accepted it had sent wrong bills in relation to all three addresses. The Council said it had sent Mr X corrected bills and had transferred the credit onto his council tax bill for his new address. The Council confirmed Mr X had paid his Council tax in full and there were no outstanding charges. The Council refunded a payment back to Mr X and apologised for the mistake and inconvenience caused.

Analysis

Disrepair issues

26. The Council’s policy notes it will first aim to take informal action and to work with landlords to fix any disrepair issues.
27. The evidence shows the Council wrote to Mr X’s landlord on the same day Mr X first raised concerns about the damp and mould disrepair issues in his property. Therefore, there was no delay in the Council telling the landlord about the disrepair issues.
28. Further, once Mr X’s landlord confirmed it would not take any action to investigate the disrepair issues, the Council arranged to complete an inspection in the same month. Again, I am satisfied the Council acted with no delay here.
29. After the inspection, the Council appropriately wrote to Mr X’s landlord to outline the works needed to fix the disrepair issues. The Council gave Mr X’s landlord 60 days to complete the required works. This meant the works should have been completed around the end of June.
30. However, the Council had agreed to an extension for the works to be completed by 20 July 2021. It was appropriate for the Council to consider the landlords request for an extension and to agree to it as the landlord was cooperating with the Council and working with it to fix the disrepair. This was in line with the Council’s policy.
31. I do not consider the Council was at fault for not taking formal enforcement action against Mr X’s landlord. This is because the Council’s policy notes the Council will only consider taking formal enforcement action where there is evidence the landlord is not cooperating and is not willing to complete the required works. This was not the case in this situation.
32. The evidence showed the Council reinspected the property in July 2021 and November 2021 to ensure the works had been completed. Again, this shows the Council was taking appropriate action to check the landlord’s actions and to check the required works were completed.
33. The evidence shows the Council was satisfied with the works completed by the landlord and closed the case. Therefore, I do not consider there was any fault in the Council not taking any further formal enforcement action as it acted in line with its policy. This is because the landlord had complied with the requested remedial works, and it was not necessary for any further action to be taken.
34. As the Council has acted in line with its policy, there is no evidence to support Mr X’s complaint that he was discriminated against by the Council.

Council tax

35. The Council has recognised it had sent several incorrect council tax bills to Mr X. This is fault and we acknowledge this would have been confusing for Mr X. The Council has apologised to Mr X and corrected the bills.
36. The Council has sent Mr X corrected bills and appropriately transferred the credit to his new council tax bill. The Council also refunded Mr X when he overpaid. Therefore, I consider the Council has taken appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused by the incorrect bills. I do not consider any further remedy is appropriate in the circumstances.

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Final decision

37. I find no fault with the action taken by the Council to deal with the disrepair issues in Mr X’s property. I find fault with the Council for the incorrect council tax bills. However, the Council has already appropriately remedied this.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman