Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning matter. This is because we cannot achieve any worthwhile outcome for her. Ms X’s injustice stems from her neighbour’s actions and her remedy lies in a claim against them for encroachment and damage to her property.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains the Council granted planning permission for development which encroaches onto her property. She also complains the Council failed to inspect her neighbour’s building work and that her property is now suffering from damp.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The planning process looks at whether development is acceptable in planning terms. Where there are disputes over the position of a boundary between properties councils are entitled to rely on the information provided by the applicant; it is not a council’s role to resolve boundary disputes and a grant of planning permission does not override any individual’s private property rights. If therefore Ms X considers her neighbour’s development encroaches onto her property she may wish to seek legal advice about a claim against her neighbour. The Council is not responsible for encroachment by any third party.
5. Ms X is also concerned about the building work itself. She complains the Council failed to investigate possible breaches of the Building Regulations and says that since the work was carried out her property has experienced issues with damp. But responsibility for the substandard work lies with those who commissioned the work and carried it out, and if Ms X believes the work has resulted in damage to her property she may wish to make a claim against her neighbour for this. The Council has no power to require Ms X’s neighbour to put right the damage to her property.

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Final decision

6. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we could not achieve any worthwhile outcome for Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman