London Borough of Redbridge (25 022 799)
Category : Housing > Private housing
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about poor communication and complaint handling. This is because any injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
The complaint
- Ms X complains an Enforcement Officer was rude and unprofessional and says she incurred unnecessary costs. She says she has decided to stop being a landlord as a result. She also complains about complaint handling.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained that she was treated poorly by an Enforcement Officer and incurred unnecessary costs. The Council said it could have been more co-operative and apologised. It did not agree that it had caused her unnecessary costs.
- We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide the impact of the fault a person complains about is not so significant that we should investigate.
- I will not investigate this complaint. We will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by an organisation. I do not consider the injustice Ms X has suffered because of any poor communication is significant enough to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman. It was Ms X’s decision to stop being a landlord.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because any injustice she has suffered is not significant enough to justify an investigation by the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman