The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council considered potential hazards in her shared-ownership property. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions and further investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mrs X complains the Council failed to take appropriate action to address the water and building temperature in the Housing Association owned building where she lives. She said the temperature of the building is too hot and the water is often scalding. She said this poses a health and safety risk to residents Mrs X said the Council failed to investigate these concerns properly. She said it did not correctly collect temperature data from two flats in the building. She wants the Council to monitor the temperature and take further action against the Housing Association.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether an organisation’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (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
Mrs X lives in a shared ownership flat. She part owns this property with the Housing Association.
Mrs X contacted the Council in 2019 about the heating and water temperatures within the building. The Council investigated. It issued Mrs X and the Housing Association a hazard awareness notice which was non-enforceable. In the Council’s complaint response, it explained that as a shared owner of the property, Mrs X was also responsible for the hazard. Therefore, it has decided that an advisory hazard awareness notice was the most appropriate action to take in respect of her concerns. The Council provided Mrs X information about private action she could take in respect of the Housing Association.
Mrs X continued to contact the Council about the temperature in the property. It sent a final response to her complaint in October 2021. It said: After it issued the hazard awareness notice the Housing Association had taken action to address the heating issue.
The hazard awareness notice was not enforceable.
It would complete a further temperature survey to check whether the work completed by the Housing Association had improved the situation.
The Council completed that temperature survey in November 2021. It confirmed to Mrs X in April it would not complete further investigations as it did not consider it would achieve anything further. Mrs X remained dissatisfied and complained to the Ombudsman.
The Council has investigated Mrs X’s concerns, completed a site visit and explained that it decided to issue a hazard awareness notice as Mrs X is a shared owner of the building. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council responded to Mrs X’s concerns about the building and water temperature to justify investigating. In addition, it is unlikely that further investigation, would lead to a different outcome.
If other residents are unhappy the Council did not monitor the temperatures in their flats properly, they would need to make a complaint to the Council in their own right.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint as there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman