Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about planning permission and planning enforcement because there is no evidence of fault and the planning permission is out of time.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that his neighbour has built a property which does not conform to planning permission and his house has been damaged (and land taken) in the process.

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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 impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement..

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

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X’s neighbour obtained planning permission for a one storey extension in 2020. Mr X questions the ownership certificate provided as part of the planning application. Any dispute about the planning permission itself is out of time as it took place more than 12 months ago.
7. Mr X says that the neighbour has damaged his house and built on Mr X’s land. The Council says that these are private matters and not a basis for planning enforcement.
8. Mr X says that the extension has not yet been completed because the gable wall has not been finished. The Council says that there is no time limit on the completion of such works and so any enforcement action would be inappropriate.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether you disagree with the decision the organisation made.
10. I have considered the steps the organisation took to consider the enforcement issue, and the information it took account of when deciding not to take action. There is no fault in how it took the decision and I therefore cannot question whether that decision was right or wrong.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council and part of the complaint is out of time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman