Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to issue a financial penalty following a failure to comply with an improvement notice in the required timescale. Mr X had the right to appeal to a tribunal if he disagreed with the financial penalty decision and it was reasonable for him to exercise that right.

The complaint

1. Mr X, who is a landlord, complained the Council issued a financial penalty for non-compliance with an improvement notice. He said the fine was excessive, he cannot afford to pay it and the worry caused is affecting his sleep.

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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.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

7. Mr X is a landlord. In early 2023, the Council received a report from his tenant about disrepair in his property. The Council carried out a Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) inspection and identified category 1 hazards in March 2023. Also in March 2023, the tenant left. The Council issued an improvement notice in April 2023. This required Mr X to carry out specific works to his property by mid-July 2023. New tenants moved into the property in May 2023.
8. The Council was unable to gain access to the property in January 2024, but was able to visit in April 2024, at which point it identified various works remained outstanding. It confirmed the works had been completed to its satisfaction in August.
9. In September, the Council told Mr X an offence had been committed because he had not completed the work within the timescale set out in the improvement notice. Also in September, Mr X complained, and the Council responded. It confirmed it had followed its enforcement policy and continued to do so. It explained the process and said Mr X could comment on the notice of intent, when issued.
10. In early October the Council issued a notice of its intention to impose a financial penalty. Mr X had the chance to comment on the notice of intent, but the Council said it did not receive any comments. In November, it issued a final notice. The notice set out the amount of the financial penalty and explained Mr X had the right to appeal the decision to impose a penalty to the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), explained how to find the relevant appeal form and provided contacted details for the Tribunal.
11. Mr X did not appeal and told us he was not aware he could do so. He made a further complaint to the Council and said he would seek legal advice. The Council responded in detail within three days. It did not uphold the complaint. Its letter set out what had happened and explained how it had followed the correct process.

My assessment

12. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the process the Council followed from receiving a report of disrepair in early 2023. There was a short period in which there was no tenant living in the property, which the Council was already aware of when it issued the improvement notice, and there is no evidence to suggest the first tenant moving out would affect the timescales set out in the notice.
13. There was a delay in inspecting the property to check the works had been completed, partly due to problems gaining access, which benefitted Mr X as it gave him longer to complete the work. However, the Council found the works were not complete in April 2024. It followed the proper process thereafter to the issue of a final notice imposing a financial penalty. There is therefore insufficient evidence of fault causing injustice to justify us investigating further.
14. In relation to financial penalty itself, I am satisfied the Council provided appropriate information about Mr X’s appeal rights on the final notice informing Mr X of the amount of the penalty. It was reasonable for Mr X to exercise his appeal right, so we will not consider this aspect of his complaint further.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the financial penalty because Mr X had a right of appeal, and it was reasonable for him to exercise it. We will not investigate the Council’s handling of the report of disrepair or the enforcement process leading to the financial penalty because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman