The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to issue Ms X a fine for not having a selective licence for her rental property. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council made that decision to warrant further investigation.
The complaint
Ms X complained about the Council’s decision to issue her a fine for not having a selective licence for a property she rents out. She said she does not live in the area so was not aware the Council was introducing selective licencing. She wants the Council to reimburse the fine.
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council introduced selective licencing in January 2019. That required private rental landlords within a specific area to be licensed. If landlords had not licensed their property by July 2019, the Council applied a £1000 fine to each licence application.
Ms X did not licence her rental property within the required timeframe and the Council issued her a fine. Ms X appealed that decision. The Council did not uphold that appeal. It said it sent letters to known rental properties in the area and publicised the introduction of the scheme. It said Ms X had a responsibility to keep up to date with any local news that might impact on her rental property.
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint further, as there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council communicated the introduction of selective licencing or in how the Council considered Ms X’s appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman