Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of a planning application in 2015. This is because the Council’s actions did not cause Miss X significant injustice and there is no evidence of fault in its more recent decision not to take enforcement action against her neighbour.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for development at a neighbouring property in 2015. She also complains the Council has failed to take enforcement action against her neighbour for breaches of the planning permission.

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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. Miss X purchased her property nearly three years after the Council granted planning permission for the development, by which point construction was already complete.
5. While she complains about the Council’s decision to grant planning permission this did not affect her at the time; she is only affected by it now as a result of her decision to purchase the property. There is therefore no direct link between the Council’s decision and the injustice she claims.
6. Miss X has raised concerns about the development not being built in accordance with the approved plans but by deciding to purchase the property she has accepted the neighbour’s property as it is. Had Miss X had concerns about the impact of the development she may have decided not to proceed with her purchase.
7. In any event, the Council has explained that the technical breaches of planning permission which are apparent in the build are not significant and do not warrant formal enforcement action. Its decision not to enforce is a matter of professional judgement and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it was reached. We cannot therefore criticise it.
8. Miss X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council’s decision to grant planning permission did not cause Miss X significant injustice and there is no evidence of fault in its decision not to take enforcement action against her neighbour.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman