Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning enforcement matter. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council causing Mrs X significant injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council has failed to take planning enforcement action against her neighbour for an alleged breach of planning control. She is also unhappy the Council signed off her neighbour’s work as compliant with the Building Regulations, as she says it has caused damage to her property.

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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 Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council has considered Mrs X’s concerns about her neighbour’s building work but has found no breach of the planning permission it granted for the development. It has also explained that even if there was a breach, it would not be ‘expedient’ to take formal enforcement action as the breach she alleges is minor and causes no material planning harm. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make and I have seen no basis for us to criticise it.
6. While I appreciate Mrs X has suffered damage to her property, this is the result of her neighbour’s building work rather than the Council’s decisions. Mrs X considers there has been a dereliction of duty by the Council’s building control officer in signing off the work as compliant with the Building Regulations but the purpose of building inspections is not to protect neighbouring properties from any possible future damage.
7. The issue Mrs X complains about is essentially a private civil dispute between her and her neighbour regarding liability for the damage to her property and this is not something the Council, or the Ombudsman, has any role or responsibility in resolving. If Mrs X believes she is entitled to compensation for the damage to her property she may wish to seek legal advice about a claim against her neighbour.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and the injustice Mrs X claims results from her neighbour’s actions rather than the Council’s decisions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman