Summary: There is no evidence of fault by the Council. The Council investigated the complaint, confirmed windows were unauthorised and told Mrs X that it did not intend to take enforcement action as the ground floor windows were behind a boundary fence and so did not cause significant overlooking or loss of privacy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has not properly investigated her complaints about the size and use of her neighbours extension. She says the property is a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) for more than 6 residents and the extension has not been built as shown on the plans.
2. Mrs X says the extension this has affected her privacy in her home and there are problems with noise and rubbish from the neighbouring property.

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What I have investigated

3. I have investigated Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has not investigated her complaint that an extra window has been put in next to the rear door of her neighbour’s extension. The final section of this statement contains my reasons for not investigating the rest of the complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I read the papers put in by Mrs X.
7. I considered the Council’s comments about the complaint and any supporting documents it provided.
8. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

9. Mrs X says that her neighbour has put an extra window next to the rear door of their extension which is not on the approved plans.
10. The Council has said that it investigated the complaint about unauthorised windows and told Mrs X of the result in October 2018. The Council accepts the window Mrs X complains about is not authorised. The planning officer told Mrs X in an email ‘while the window is not in accordance with the plans for the side extension, I find the window by being at ground floor level and behind a boundary fence does not cause any planning harm in terms of overlooking or loss of privacy. As such it does not merit formal enforcement action’.
11. Planning authorities may take enforcement action where there has been a breach of planning control. Enforcement action is discretionary, the Council does not have to take action.
12. In this case, the Council has said that does not intend to take enforcement action over the unauthorised window. The Council visited the site and told Mrs X of the reason it did not intend to take action. While I understand Mrs X disagrees with the decision, it is a decision the Council may to take and I find no evidence of fault.
13. Mrs X said the window the Council investigated at first was not the one she was complaining about. The Council clarified that it had considered all the windows when considering whether to take enforcement action.

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Final decision

14. I have completed my investigation. This complaint is not upheld as I have found no evidence of fault.

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Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

15. 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’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different result.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

16. I have not investigated Mrs X's complaints that the Ombudsman has already examined as part of complaint 17005933. Paragraph 75 of the decision statement considered the size of the extension. The decision statement also considered enforcement of the Planning Contravention Notice about Mrs X’s complaint that the property was a HMO with more than 6 residents. I note that recently the planning enforcement officer has investigated in January 2019 and found no evidence there were more than 6 residents in the property so I do not consider there is evidence of any fault by the Council on this point to warrant investigation.
17. Mrs X’s complaint about an unauthorised roof overhang has been resolved, with the neighbour now complying with the approved plans. I do not propose to investigate this complaint as there is no injustice caused Mrs X now the Council has resolved the planning breach.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman