Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to the complainant’s concerns about her neighbour’s building work. The complaint is made too late, and we have seen no good reason to investigate now.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council failed to respond to her initial report of unregulated/unauthorised building work carried out on her neighbour’s property.
2. She says she had to pay for a surveyor’s report and engage a solicitor.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mrs X reported unauthorised/unregulated building work at her neighbours’ property in October 2018. She says the Council told her it would contact her if there were issues affecting her property.
8. As she did not hear anything, Mrs X says she called the Council several times and was given different answers such as:
• officers will contact you if there is a problem affecting you;
• officers will get back to you; or
• officers cannot tell you anything because of data protection rules
9. The Council complained to the Council in 2022. It confirmed that when she first contacted them in 2018, its policy was not to provide updates unless the person contacted them. It confirmed this has now changed and it will advise people who report concerns with the outcome of officer’s enquiries.
10. The Council also confirmed officers visited the neighbour’s property more than once in 2018. It is satisfied the work is not dangerous but asked if Mrs X is aware of any further work she should report it, and it will investigate.
11. Mrs X commissioned a surveyor’s report to see if her neighbour’s work has damaged her home. This report refers to several defects but advises her to use the Party Wall Act 1996 to give notice to her neighbour that she intends to repair her property at his expense.
12. The law says a complaint must be made to us within 12 months of the person becoming aware of the problem. Mrs X was aware of the problem in 2018. Her complaint is therefore late.
13. I have considered whether I should exercise discretion in this case.
14. However, the Council has confirmed its policy at the time was not to routinely update people unless there were concerns for their property. And any damage to Mrs X’s property arises from her neighbour’s building work and the neighbours’ failure to comply with the Party Wall Act 1996. These are private civil matters between Mrs X and her neighbour, and it is not the Council’s role to deal with them.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is made too late, and we have seen no reason to investigate now.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman