Summary: Mr B complained that the Council had failed to take action to enforce a section 215 notice regarding the external condition of the property he lives in. We found the Council delayed in reaching a decision not to take enforcement action. This caused Mr B uncertainty and distress. The Council has agreed to apologise to him and make a symbolic payment of £150.

The complaint

1. Mr B complained that the London Borough of Waltham Forest (the Council) failed to take action to enforce a section 215 notice served on the freeholder of the property in 2020. This has caused Mr B ongoing distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated the events from March 2024, the point at which Mr B raised the issue with a local councillor. I have not investigated the earlier period as I consider Mr B could have complained to us sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Enforcement

8. Councils can take enforcement action if they find a breach of planning rules. However, councils should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control.
9. Planning enforcement is discretionary and formal action should happen only when it would be a proportionate response to the breach. When deciding whether to enforce, councils should consider the likely impact of harm to the public and whether they might grant approval if they were to receive an application for the development or use.
10. As planning enforcement action is discretionary, councils may decide to take informal action or not to act at all. Informal action might include negotiating improvements, seeking an assurance or undertaking, or requesting submission of a planning application so they can formally consider the issues.
11. Government guidance says: “Effective enforcement is important as a means of maintaining public confidence in the planning system. Enforcement action is discretionary, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control.” (National Planning Policy Framework December 2024, paragraph 60)

Section 215 notices

12. A Section 215 notice gives councils the power to require landowners to remedy land conditions affecting amenity such as untidy land. It should specify the steps the landowner needs to take within a certain period of time (a minimum of 28 days). If the action is not done the Council can do the work itself and recover the costs from the landowner or prosecute the landowner for non-compliance. The landowner has a right of appeal against the notice to the magistrates court.

What happened

Background

13. Mr B lives in a building divided into flats. In 2020 the Council issued two notices against the owner of the building: a breach of condition notice relating to a planning permission and a section 215 notice to carry out works to the external appearance of the building.

2024

14. In March 2024 Mr B raised an enquiry with his local councillor about the failure of the Council to enforce the section 215 notice. He said he and other residents had experienced repeated floods, leaks, damp, poor security and fly-tipping.
15. In early April he received a response from the enforcement team who confirmed that due to staff shortages it was only dealing with high priority cases. As the section 215 notice only concerned the external appearance of the building it did not affect the water ingress inside the building.
16. In December 2024 Mr B made a formal complaint about the lack of enforcement action. He said the building was in a poor state of repair, the entire facade needed renovating, the gardens were untended, there were leaks and the state of the building encouraged anti-social behaviour.

2025

17. The Council responded in January 2025. It apologised for the lack of action on the case which it said was due to a lack of resources in the department. It said the team had recently restructured which should hopefully improve the situation. It said the case was still open and would not be closed until a satisfactory outcome was reached. It partially upheld the complaint.
18. Mr B remained dissatisfied and escalated his complaint to stage two.
19. The Council visited the site in March 2025 and noted that planning condition issues had been resolved. It did not consider that the section 215 notice was now warranted.
20. The Council responded to Mr B’s complaint in April 2025. It apologised for the delay in responding and confirmed the breach of condition notice was now resolved. It said the section 215 notice was still open, but it would pass the case to senior management for a decision on further action.
21. Mr B complained to us.
22. In response to our initial enquiries the Council said that a section 215 notice is a discretionary enforcement tool used to address land or buildings that adversely affect the amenity of the area due to their external appearance. Its purpose is not to address internal issues, structural problems or landlord obligations.
23. In Mr B’s case the Council said the notice related solely to the external appearance of the property and required cosmetic improvements only. It had now reviewed the matter and was satisfied that the external condition of the property did not warrant further intervention under a section 215 notice. It also said that it could be reasonably argued that the condition of the building had never warranted this action. As the key planning breach originally identified had now been resolved, the property no longer warranted ongoing enforcement action and so it would close the case.

Findings

24. The power to take enforcement action is discretionary and it is not my role to say whether the Council should have taken enforcement action. It is my role to consider the way in which the Council made its decision.
25. As the Council had issued a section 215 notice in 2020 Mr B had a reasonable expectation that the Council would ensure that the work specified in the notice was done. When Mr B contacted the Council in March 2024 and given that the section 215 notice was now four years old, I consider the Council should have considered the position in more detail, visited the site and reviewed the situation.
26. Despite Mr B making a formal complaint in December 2024 the Council did not visit the site until March 2025 and it did not make a decision not to pursue enforcement action until May 2025. Furthermore, it only communicated this decision to me and not directly to Mr B.
27. This delay and lack of communication for over a year caused uncertainty and frustration to Mr B. I agree it was not connected to the internal issues and difficulties Mr B is experiencing with the freeholder, but it still caused him avoidable distress over a significant period of time.

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Action

28. In recognition of the injustice caused to Mr B, I recommended the Council, within one month of the date of my final decision:
• apologises to him and makes a symbolic payment of £150.
29. The Council has agreed to the recommendations and should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman