Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to take appropriate steps to ensure his landlord complied with an improvement notice regarding his heat pump system in his private rented home. The Council was not at fault for revoking the improvement notice after the landlord replaced the heat pump. Subsequent inspections did not identify any hazards which would justify a further notice. The ongoing issues are now a matter between Mr X and his landlord.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to take appropriate steps to ensure his landlord complied with recommendations on an improvement notice regarding an inadequate heating system in his private rented home.
2. He also complained the Council accepted a fraudulent building regulation certificate when a replacement heat pump was installed.
3. Mr X said his heating has not worked adequately for nearly two years which has caused him and his family to suffer from excess cold and insufficient hot water.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
5. 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))

6. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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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What I have and have not investigated

7. I have investigated the Council’s actions from the point it issued an improvement notice in August 2023 up to the Council’s last complaint response to Mr X at the end of January 2025. Although this matter is ongoing the Council will need the opportunity to formally respond to Mr X’s ongoing concerns during 2025. We cannot investigate a complaint unless the Council has had the opportunity to formally respond to it (s26(5) the Local Government Act 1974). Therefore, Mr X will need to make a new complaint to the Council about events after January 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Private housing disrepair law and guidance

Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS)

10. Private tenants may complain to their council about a failure by the landlord to keep the property in good repair. Councils have powers under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) (introduced by the Housing Act 2004, 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. The hazards are categorised as:
• Category 1 hazards which are hazards which could cause serious harm such as death.
• Category 2 hazards which are less serious hazards which may need remedial work by the landlord.
11. The HHSRS is a risk assessment tool used to assess 29 potential hazards and risks to the health and safety of occupants in homes. The assessment method is used to identify hazards most likely to be present in homes. The aim is to tackle these hazards to make homes healthier and safer to live in.
12. One of the 29 hazards is ‘excess cold’. The guidance says a healthy indoor temperature is 18-21 degrees. It says adverse health effects can start when temperatures drop below 19 degrees with serious risks below 16 degrees.
13. The government has published guidance titled ‘Housing Health and Safety System Enforcement Guidance’ which outlines councils’ duties and powers under the Housing Act with regards to housing fitness and disrepair.
14. The guidance states councils should arrange an inspection of a property if, following a complaint or other reason, it considers it appropriate to do so to determine whether a category 1 or 2 hazard exists in the property.
15. The guidance says it is good practice for councils to carry out as full an inspection of the property as possible. The law requires an accurate record to be prepared and kept of the inspection in written or electronic form.
16. If a council considers a category 1 hazard exists in a residential premises they must take appropriate enforcement action in accordance with section 5 of the Act. Councils have discretion to take action if a category 2 hazard is identified. This could be in the form of a hazard awareness notice to the landlord or an improvement notice. Councils can take action against the landlord if they ignore these notices.

What happened

17. The following chronology provides a summary of the key events relevant to this complaint. It does not include every detail of what happened.
18. Mr X lives in a private rented house in the Council’s area. The house has a heat pump system which heats the property and the water.
19. Mr X had raised various issues about appliances, electrics and heating in his house with the Council since 2020. In 2023 Mr X complained to the Council that the heat pump system was not working which was causing the house to be cold with intermittent heating and hot water.
20. Following an inspection by the Council’s Environment Health (EH) officer the Council issued Mr X’s landlord with an improvement notice in August 2023. The notice outlined that the property had a category 1 hazard in that the property was excessively cold due to a defective heat pump unit. The notice outlined the necessary work required which was to replace the defective ground source heat pump unit. It said the works should be carried out by a suitably qualified engineer in accordance with Building Regulations.
21. The landlord confirmed that an engineer replaced the heat pump at the end of September 2023. A few days later an EH officer visited Mr X to inspect the works. They noted various issues including leaking water, underfloor heating not working, the water was not adequately warm and the electrics kept tripping out. The Council requested the landlord rectify the matters.
22. A contractor visited Mr X during October 2023 and advised the heat pump was working correctly. The Council received a copy of the Building Regulation Certificate signing off the heat pump installation in December 2023.
23. At the end of December 2023 the EH officer visited Mr X again after he expressed concerns that issues still remained. This included water leaking from the pump, underfloor heating not fully working and inadequate hot water. The Council made arrangements for a specialist contractor to visit and inspect the installation.
24. The specialist contractor visited Mr X in February 2024 and provided a report in April 2024. The contractor said the underfloor heating was operational although there was an area in the kitchen which was not. They found the heating temperature was 21 degrees. Radiators in the upstairs rooms were not transmitting heat for extended periods but thought this may be an issue which a further specialist engineer could fix. The water was reaching 55 degrees. The landlord commissioned a further specialist engineer to visit and inspect the ongoing issues.
25. In July 2024 the EH officer visited Mr X along with the specialist engineer. Records show the engineer took various remedial actions including rebalancing the underfloor heating and ensuring fan heaters were operational. The engineer said the heat pump/hot water system was in safe working order.
26. In July 2024 the Council decided to revoke the improvement notice on the basis that the requirements of the notice were met. This was decided as engineers had confirmed the heat pump was in safe working order. Recommendations were made to the landlord to carry out rewiring around the control unit and to replace a noisy pump in the airing cupboard. The specialist engineer’s recommendations did not affect the overall operation of the heat pump and hot water system and fell outside the scope of the improvement notice.
27. Mr X was unhappy and complained to the Council about the decision to revoke the improvement notice. He said the Council was not meeting its duty of care and the landlord had allowed ineffective workarounds that did not utilise the heat pump. Mr X wanted the improvement notice reinstated.
28. The Council issued a stage one complaint response in August 2024 and said it had completed a number of visits and ongoing communications which determined the heat pump had been successfully installed. The Council said the ongoing issues were outside the scope of the improvement notice.
29. Mr X escalated his complaint to stage two of the complaints process in September 2024. He remained unhappy with the decision to revoke the notice and said the notice required heating and hot water to be available at all times which it was not.
30. The Council issued a stage two response in October 2024. It disagreed with Mr X and said the notice required the landlord to replace the defective heat pump to ensure the property was not excessively cold. The Council said it had considered engineer reports and inspections which confirmed the heat pump was installed correctly.
31. Mr X remained unhappy and complained to us.
32. Shortly after complaining to us further issues arose and Mr X contacted the Council about issues with radiators in his children’s bedroom. Mr X believed there was a risk of a fire occurring.
33. Further visits and inspections were carried out during November and December 2024. The landlord’s managing agents and a heating contractor attended the property as well as the Council’s EH officer. The Council inspected the property and found no category 1 hazards.
34. Mr X raised another complaint about the ongoing issues and reiterated that he wanted another improvement notice served. Mr X mentioned the previous Building Regulation Certificate was fraudulent as the person signing it off was never present at any time.
35. The Council issued Mr X with a further complaint response in January 2025. It said its EH team had engaged with the landlord to try and resolve this matter. It said none of the reports mention a risk of fire. It said it could only issue improvement notices under strict circumstances and when a category 1 hazard was present. While it acknowledged Mr X was having ongoing issues with the heating system the problems did not meet the definition of excess cold. It understood the landlord was going ahead with other repairs recommended by the specialist engineer.
36. Regarding the Building Regulation Certificate, records show the Council referred the matter to both Building Control and Trading Standards who declined to take any further action. This was on the basis that various engineers had inspected the system as in working order and therefore there was no basis to consider the certificate any further.
37. The Council carried out another inspection in February 2025 and found the heat and hot water were working and no category 1 hazards were present.
38. Since the matter has been with us for investigation Mr X has continued to correspond with the Council about his dissatisfaction with its handling of the matter. Records show the Council carried out a further inspection in April 2025 and again found no category 1 hazards. Mr X continues to raise faults with the heat pump system and remains unhappy about the lack of enforcement.
39. It appears the landlord is trying to arrange another visit from a specialist engineer to carry out remedial works however there appears to be an impasse on arranging both a suitable date and agreeing on a suitable engineer.

My findings

40. There is no dispute that Mr X has had various issues with his heating system which appear to be ongoing. However, I can only look at the Council’s duty towards Mr X.
41. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
42. When Mr X initially reported issues with the heating system the Council carried out appropriate inspections and decided there was excess cold and as such issued the landlord with an improvement notice. The notice required the landlord to replace the defective heat pump. The heat pump was replaced and based on subsequent inspections the Council was satisfied the requirements of the notice were met and as such there were no category 1 hazards remaining. There was no fault in the Council’s actions or its decision to revoke the improvement notice.
43. Regarding the Building Regulation Certificate, the Council took appropriate action by referring the matter to both Building Control and Trading Standards who both decided not to take any further action. Given this and the evidence showing the heat pump was installed correctly I have not considered this point any further as there is not enough evidence of fault and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
44. Since the improvement notice was revoked Mr X has continued to raise concerns and subsequent inspections have recommended improvements to the system. The Council however is only required to step in and take action if it believes there is a category 1 hazard. The Council has completed its own inspections, considered reports from various contractors and engineers and has not found there to be a category 1 hazard. Therefore, the Council is not at fault for not issuing a new improvement notice.
45. While the evidence shows there are ongoing issues which are likely affecting the performance and adequacy of the heating system, as well as delay in arranging another specialist engineer, this is a matter between Mr X and his landlord to resolve. Mr X also has the option of pursuing court action against the landlord if he wishes to do so.

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Decision

46. I completed this investigation as I found no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman