Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s response to her reports of private housing disrepair. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has refused to take appropriate enforcement action against her landlord for failing to keep her property in good repair. She says the lack of enforcement means the landlord has not acted to repair the hazards in her home, affecting her health and safety. She wants the Council to take further action to force the landlord to complete the necessary repairs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Private tenants may complain to their council about a failure by the landlord to keep the property in good repair. Local authorities have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (introduced by the Housing Act 1994, Part 1) to take enforcement action against private landlords where the council has identified a hazard which puts the health and safety of the tenant at risk. If a council considers a category 1 hazard exists in residential premises they must take appropriate enforcement action in accordance with section 5 of the Act.  Councils have discretion to take enforcement action if a category 2 hazard is identified.
7. The Council inspected Ms X’s home in October 2022 and found category 1 and category 2 hazards that the landlord needed to address. In January 2023, it issued an improvement notice to the landlord, requiring them to take remedial action.
8. By July 2023, the Council was satisfied that some of the required work had been completed. The landlord told the Council Ms X was denying her access to the property to complete the other works. The Council considered this information and decided to vary the improvement notice, to give the landlord more time to complete the works.
9. The Council has told us that if the landlord does not complete the required works by the date in the improvement notice, it will arrange for them to be completed by default.
10. We will not investigate this complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. It acted appropriately by issuing an improvement notice to the landlord, after its inspection of Ms X’s home identified health and safety hazards. The Council has kept the matter under review and was entitled to decide to amend the improvement notice in July 2023, based on its updated assessment and new information received. It has advised us what further action it will take, should the landlord fail to comply with the improvement notice by the required timescale. Further investigation by us could achieve nothing more.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman