Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s extension in 2020. His complaint is late, and we have not seen any good reasons to exercise discretion on this point. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s two storey extension. He says the extension breaches the 45-degree rule and he has lost light and amenity. He also says his property has been devalued.
2. Mr X wants to order the neighbour to demolish the extension to ensure compliance with the 45-degree rule.

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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)

5. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and on the Council’s website.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for his neighbour’s extension in May 2020.
9. From the information I have seen, Mr X objected to the application and his objections were included in the planning officer’s report. The Council’s planning committee decided to grant planning permission.
10. The law says we may not investigate any complaint where the complainant was aware of the matter more than 12 months previously: but we may exercise discretion on this point if there are good reasons to do so.
11. The Local Government Act 1974 does not define “became aware of”. This means when the complainant knew about it – not when they decided to complain to us about it, or when they knew they didn’t agree with the Council’s response.
12. In this case Mr X was clearly aware of the Council’s decision to grant planning permission as he complained to the Council in June 2020 about errors in the planning officer’s report to the planning committee. He says he did not receive a response to his complaint despite chasing the Council several times. His complaint is therefore late.
13. I must consider whether to exercise discretion and investigate this late complaint. Mr X says his neighbour started work in 2022. He says after raising concerns with the Council, the neighbour applied for planning permission for a single storey extension. As this negated his concerns, he chose not to pursue his complaint about the original planning permission. However, by this point the complaint would still have been late as he had been aware of the original permission granted in 2020.
14. Mr X wants the neighbour’s extension demolished or reduced in size. This is not something the Ombudsman can achieve.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made too late, and we do not consider there are any good reasons why Mr X could not have contacted us mush sooner. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman