Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to progress his complaint about a building control breach in a timely manner. The Council took over two years to make any meaningful progress on Mr X’s complaint. This is fault and caused Mr X undue distress, uncertainty and frustration. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X and make a payment to recognise the distress caused by the delay. We have also made a service improvement recommendation to reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to properly progress his complaint about his neighbour’s garden posing a danger to his boundary. He said the neighbour raised the level of his land and has damaged his fence. He cannot develop or replace his fence without causing further significant damage to the structure behind.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
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 from the date Mr X reported his concerns to the Council in July 2023. This is over 12 months ago as Mr X complained to us on 3 June 2025. Mr X chased the Council for updates during this time, and the Council took some steps to progress his case. Mr X was under the impression his case was being progressed accordingly. I have exercised discretion to investigate as there is a good reason for the delay in Mr X complaining to us.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

Relevant legislation and guidance

Building Control and Building Regulations

8. Councils have a very important role in ensuring buildings are safe for people to use. Their duty is to protect the public, rather than the interests of private individuals. They have extensive powers to protect the public, ranging from checking building works for compliance with building regulations, and requiring or carrying out emergency works to make buildings safe.
9. Most building work requires building regulation approval. Building regulations set out requirements and guidance that builders and building owners are required to follow and consider. The purpose of the regulations is to make sure buildings are safe for those that use them or live around them.
10. Sections 77 of the Building Act 1984 gives councils power to deal with buildings or structures which are in a dangerous condition. This includes applying to the Magistrates court for an order requiring the owner to carry out necessary works to remove the danger.

Time limits for enforcement

Before April 2024

11. Planning enforcement action is subject to statutory time limits. For breaches prior to 25 April 2024, the council may not take planning enforcement action in the following circumstances:

• there was development on, over or under land without permission, no enforcement action may be taken after 4 years from the date of the breach;
• there was a change of use of a building to a use as a single dwelling house, no enforcement action may be taken after 4 years from the date of the breach; or
• for any other breach, no enforcement action may be taken after 10 years from the date of the breach.

After April 2024

12. Since 25 April 2024, breaches of planning control are immune from enforcement if no action is taken within 10 years of:
• Substantial completion of development on, over or under land;
• Change of an unauthorised use of a building to a use as a single dwelling house; and
• Any other breach of planning control, such as a change of use.

What happened

13. Mr X’s neighbour started to raise the height of his garden over 20 years ago without any retaining walls. The height increased over the years. Mr X raised his concerns to the council in July 2023 by reporting a breach in planning control.
14. The Council said this was a civil matter and no breach of planning had occurred. It is unclear how the Council reached this view. Mr X disagreed with the Council’s decision. He chased for responses but received no contact until January 2024 when it visited the neighbour’s property. It told Mr X it cannot take planning enforcement action as the main work happened over 4 years ago. The Council acknowledged there was some damage to Mr X’s fence but said this was now a civil matter. Mr X said his complaint is about safety, so it is not just a civil matter. The Council passed his complaint to the building control team.
15. An officer from the building control team visited Mr X’s property in January 2024 but did not follow up until June 2024. The Council told Mr X it had plans to visit the neighbour’s property but this was delayed due to key staff being unable to attend due to private issues.
16. Mr X continued to chase the Council but no progress was made until September 2024. It told Mr X it tried to contact the neighbour but was unsuccessful. The Council advised Mr X it planned to visit the neighbour’s property, but no progress was made until January 2025.
17. The Council updated Mr X that the previous building control manager had been replaced. The new manager advised Mr X that an officer would be visiting his property again. Mr X continued to chase for updates, but no progress was made. Mr X complained to us in June 2025.
18. The building control manager visited Mr X in September 2025. It progressed his complaint in October 2025 and wrote to Mr X’s neighbour asking them to provide safety reports or potentially face enforcement action under section 77 of the Building Act 1984.

Findings and recommendations

19. The Council failed to properly progress Mr X’s concerns for over 2 years. It has now escalated the complaint accordingly and taken steps to address the matter. So, there is nothing more we can achieve on this point. We recommend the Council provides Mr X with an update at least every 8 weeks with details of actions taken and next steps.
20. The significant delay caused Mr X undue distress due to the uncertainty, frustration, time and trouble involved in him chasing the Council for updates. We consider an apology and a payment of £200 to Mr X to be a suitable remedy.
21. There were long periods of no contact or updates being provided to Mr X. There were various causes for delays including changes in staff and failure to establish contact with the neighbour. We recommend the Council reminds relevant staff of the importance in providing complainants with timely updates to avoid future delays and undue distress.

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Action

22. Within 4 weeks of our final decision, the Council will:
• Apologise to Mr X for the distress caused by the delays. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Mr X £200 for the uncertainty, frustration, time and trouble incurred as a result of the delays.
• Remind relevant staff of the importance of providing timely updates to complainants.
23. The Council should provide regular updates to Mr X on the progress of the case, at least every 8 weeks.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman