The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about charges for the serving of improvement notices on a private landlord in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. If Mr X believes the charges are unlawful he could seek legal action to challenge the sums charged.
The complaint
Mr X says the Council charged him for serving two improvement notices on him under the Housing Act 2004. In January 2023 he challenged the amounts charged and is dissatisfied with the Council’s responses.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X says the council served him with two improvement notices for disrepair in different properties which he owns in 2022. He says he took legal advice and challenged the invoices for the amounts charged in January 2023. He believes the Council did not provide a specific breakdown of the charges for serving the notices.
The Council later provided a breakdown but Mr X is dissatisfied with this and says there is no guidance or policy which specifies the charges.
Mr X complained to us in March 2024 which is more than 12 months after the challenge which he made to the Council over the costs. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking. We will not exercise discretion to consider this now.
Councils have powers under the Housing Act 2004 to make a charge for notices served on private landlords under the Act. There is no specified amount for the charges and an authority can consider each case on its merits to reclaim reasonable costs. Most authorities charge between £150 and £350 depending on the notice and the case. If a case is appealed the charge will be higher because it will involve appeal costs, legal advice etc. the costs may include administrative fees, inspection costs, legal fees, notice posting and delivery, and appeal costs.
Mr X could have appealed the notices to the First Tier Tribunal in 2022 and because he did not do so the charges are applied by default. The Council has since applied the unpaid notice costs as a local charge on Mr X’s property which is allowed under the provisions of the Housing Act 2004. If he wishes to challenge the lawfulness of this he would need to seek a remedy in the courts.
Final decision
We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about charges for the serving of improvement notices on a private landlord in 2022. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner. If Mr X believes the charges are unlawful he could seek legal action to challenge the sums charged.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman