The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling and administration relating to a House in Multiple Occupation owned by the Complainant. This is because she has used her appeal rights to a Tribunal.
The complaint
Ms X is the owner of a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). The Council carried out an inspection in 2021 and issued a schedule of works, which Ms X completed. The Council then issued her Notices of Intention to issue financial penalties for failure to comply with HMO regulations. Ms X appealed in 2022 to the First-tier Tribunal, which decided to reduce her financial penalty. Ms X says the Council was wrong to issue the financial penalties and wants the Council to compensate her for the cost of legal fees.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The First-tier Tribunal may consider an award of costs in any matter before it.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because she has already used her appeal rights to Tribunal and it was reasonable to expect her to seek an award of costs from the Tribunal itself.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman