Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to cover the costs incurred by Mr X as a result of damage to his property caused by a tenant he had rented his property to. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that despite the Council’s promise to support the tenant he had rented his property out to, it has refused to cover the costs he incurred when the property was left in an uninhabitable condition by the tenant. He says the Council did not provide sufficient assistance to him as landlord and having sought to assist the tenant and the Council by not seeking repossession of the property and making the tenant homeless, his kindness has cost him thousands of pounds.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council, including its response to the complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. It is most unfortunate that despite the goodwill displayed by Mr X in not taking legal action to evict his tenant, he has been left with substantial costs to make good the damage caused by the tenant.
6. However, while the Council may have worked with Mr X and the tenant to avoid making to tenant homeless, it is not responsible for the damage caused by the tenant. It would have been open to Mr X to have begun court proceedings for possession at an earlier date if he had no longer wanted to rent to the tenant.
7. The Council’s response to his request for compensation is disappointing but there is no evidence to suggest fault in its handling of matters sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault by the Council sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman