Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response after Miss X reported disrepair and hazards at the property she rented. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, or of fault causing a significant injustice to Miss X. It is also unlikely we could achieve any meaningful outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s handling of her housing disrepair case. Miss X says she reported serious issues including damp, mould, and wall damage but the Council failed to properly assess the hazards and dismissed clear signs of disrepair. Miss X also complains the Council failed to provide her with a copy of its inspection report. Miss X says that living in a property with damp, mould, and wall damage seriously affected her health and wellbeing, leaving her with no choice but to leave the property. Miss X wants the Council to acknowledge its failure to act, apologise, and ensure better handling of similar cases in the future plus compensate her for the impact the situation had on her health, safety, and housing stability.

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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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (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. I have considered the Council’s housing enforcement policy, and Government guidance in respect of housing enforcement.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Background

5. The Council inspected Miss X’s property in February 2025 using its powers under the Housing Act 2004 to check it was of a satisfactory standard.
6. Miss X complained to the Council after the inspection, first in early March 2025, that it had failed to identify hazards at the property which were dangerous to health, even though Miss X said there was damp and mould and high humidity at the property. Miss X also complained the Council refused to send her a copy of what it sent to her landlord following the inspection.
7. Miss X complained to the Council again later in March 2025, at which point she had left the property as she says she could no longer live with the disrepair.
8. In response to Miss X’s complaint, the Council confirmed it did identify hazards and contacted her landlord soon after the inspection, to request they address problems with windows, a lack of ventilation, damp, mould growth and condensation.
9. The Council indicated that Miss X’s landlord had confirmed they were in the process of actioning the replacement of all windows.
10. The Council explained that it was working informally with Miss X’s landlord to achieve the remedial work necessary so there was no report as such it could share with Miss X.

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My assessment

11. The Council’s housing enforcement policy and national guidance indicate that informal, initial action is reasonable when a landlord is compliant. National guidance states that it may be appropriate for an enforcing authority to wait to serve a notice unless the property owner fails to start work required within a reasonable time. As such, while I recognise that Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s approach, I consider it is unlikely we will find fault with it.
12. I understand that Miss X felt the need to leave the property, but as she did this within a month of the inspection being carried out, it is not possible to say what would have happened, that is, whether the remedial work would have been carried out or whether the Council would have decided to take formal action against the owner.
13. I recognise that Miss X was unhappy that she did not receive a copy of what the Council had sent to the owner following the inspection but I do not consider that if the Council was at fault in this regard, that Miss X was caused a significant level of injustice from this.
14. I appreciate that Miss X was concerned for her health, but the owner was ultimately responsible for the repair issues at the property and any compensation claim would need to be made against them. We could not, in any case, make an award of compensation to Miss X for any damage caused to her health as such matters can only be determined by a court.

For these reasons, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we will find fault by the Council, or fault causing Miss X a serious injustice and we cannot achieve the outcome she seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman