The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation into whether a landlord was a fit and proper person to operate a house in multiple occupation. This is because Mr X has not been caused an injustice as a result of the actions of the Council.
The complaint
Mr X complains the Council failed to take action against his landlord for operating an unlicensed house in multiple occupation (HMO). Mr X says the Council has colluded with the landlord to allow him to continue renting the property where he lives.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide 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))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about the property where he lives in June 2021. The Council has investigated the landlord and in October 2021 it wrote to Mr X to say that it did not consider his landlord to be a fit and proper person to have an HMO license. The Council provided Mr X with advice about agencies he could contact to help him with his tenancy and advised him that its Housing Options team may be able to assist him.
Mr X has not been caused an injustice as a result of the actions of the Council. This is because Mr X’s landlord has legal obligations towards Mr X as a tenant. If Mr X is experiencing difficulties with his landlord he has rights as a tenant which he can enforce through the courts. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has not been caused an injustice as a result of the actions of the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman