The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s reports of disrepair in her Housing Association home. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot investigate the actions of Housing Associations.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council is ignoring the law and refusing to tell the Housing Association to make her property habitable. Ms X wants the Council to instruct the Housing Association to move her to another home.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of Housing Associations. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council. This includes the complaint correspondence. I also considered our Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X lives in a property which she rents from a Housing Association. The Housing Association is the landlord and is responsible for doing repairs.
Ms X contacted the Council in December and reported problems in her home. The Council’s private sector team met Housing Association staff and inspected the property in January. The Council did an inspection to check for hazards (using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System) and found no serious hazards; there were no category one or category two hazards.
The Housing Association subsequently carried out some repairs and did a treatment for mould and damp. The Council also told the Housing Association that repairs were needed to a handrail. The Council met the Housing Association in February and the landlord said the works had been completed. The Council told Ms X she would need to contact the Housing Association about repairs and complain to the Housing Association if she did not think the repairs had been done correctly.
I will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The responsibility for repairs rests with the Housing Association not the Council. Ms X needs to report any concerns or complaints about the condition of her home to her landlord. That said, the Council responded correctly by inspecting her home, meeting with Housing Association staff, carrying out an HHSRS inspection, facilitating repairs and checking the repairs had been completed. There is nothing more I would expect the Council to do and the Council cannot take day-to-day management of repairs because that is the responsibility of the Housing Association.
Ms X may have concerns about how the Housing Association responded but we have no power to investigate Housing Associations.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot investigate Housing Associations.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman