Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about private housing disrepair because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complains about the Council’s handling of concerns she raised whilst living in private housing. She says the Council failed to investigate serious hazards and ignored her concerns.

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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))
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss Y says she raised concerns of disrepair to her landlord in November 2024. When her landlord failed to address these, Miss Y raised her concerns to the Council in March 2025.
7. The Council contacted Miss Y’s landlord in April 2025 to request copies of relevant safety certificates. The landlord sent these to the Council.
8. Works were completed by the landlord’s contractor in April 2025. Miss Y was concerned this work was not completed properly. The Council sought assurance from the contractor that works were completed correctly.
9. In May 2025, Miss Y reported further disrepair to the Council. The Council contacted the landlord, who confirmed its contractor had fixed this.
10. The Council asked Miss Y to confirm what disrepair works had been completed, and what was outstanding. It asked Miss Y to arrange an inspection, to determine if a Category 1 hazard was present. Between June 2025 and July 2025, the Council attempted to arrange an inspection several times. Miss Y said she did not consent for an inspection to take place.
11. Miss Y says the Council failed to investigate serious hazards in her property. The Council required Miss Y’s consent to conduct an inspection at her property, to determine if a hazard was present. If there was a hazard, the Council could have used its power to take enforcement action against Miss Y’s landlord. However, it was unable to consider this because Miss Y did not consent to the inspection. As there is evidence of the Council attempting to address Miss Y’s concerns, we will not investigate this complaint further. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.
12. Miss Y raised a formal complaint to the Council in July 2025. The Council did not uphold her complaint, but in its response in August 2025 it further invited Miss Y to arrange an inspection. Miss Y left the property in September 2025.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman