The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council damaging his property when it undertook work to the adjoining property. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by a council acting as a social landlord.
The complaint
Mr B complains Council contractors damaged the guttering of his property when undertaking work on the adjoining property which is owned by the Council. Mr B says the Council has failed to properly put this matter right and has provided contradictory information. Mr B also says the Council has failed to follow its own complaints procedure by missing deadlines and not providing updates.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr B.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B owns his property. The adjoining property is owned and managed by the Council as a Council tenancy.
Mr B’s complaint is about the Council’s management of the adjoining property in its role as a social landlord. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing by councils. This restriction to our powers applies to complaints about the handling of maintenance and repair works to Council-owned properties. This restriction also applies even if, as with this complaint, the person who has complained is not a Council tenant.
This means we cannot investigate the issue Mr B complains about and have no discretion to start an investigation.
Also, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. So, an investigation solely into the Council’s handling of Mr B’s complaint is not justified.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is about the management of social housing by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman