The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her complaints about antisocial behaviour from her neighbours, as the Council considered the matter in its role as social landlord. If Ms X remains dissatisfied, the Housing Ombudsman Service is better placed to consider this complaint.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council has not acted following her complaints of antisocial behaviour from neighbours. She says the matter has caused distress and affected her mental health. She wants the Council to apologise, evict her neighbours, discipline relevant staff and compensate her for the failures and distress caused.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended) 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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) The Housing Ombudsman Service considers complaints from social housing tenants about the actions of their housing provider.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X is a Council tenant. In 2024, she complained about antisocial behaviour from her neighbours. The Council investigated her concerns in its role as social landlord. In its complaint responses, it acknowledged it could have acted sooner to gather the evidence needed to act. It apologised for this and for the impact of the delay on her mental health and quality of life. It said it would now take action against the neighbours concerned and support her to move to more suitable housing. It directed her to the Housing Ombudsman Service if she remained dissatisfied.
We cannot investigate this complaint. The Council has considered Ms X’s concerns in its role as social landlord. We cannot investigate the actions of the Council in its role as social housing provider.
Although the Council does have wider powers to tackle antisocial behaviour outside of its social landlord role, it has already investigated and responded to her concerns in its role as social landlord. Its decision that it will not consider the matter again appears reasonable and so it is unlikely we would find fault with this decision. If Ms X is unhappy with the Council’s actions, the Housing Ombudsman Service is better placed to consider this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we cannot investigate the actions of the Council in its role as social landlord. The Housing Ombudsman is better placed to consider this complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman