The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that his property has been damaged due to the Council’s failure to maintain a property it owns. 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 his property has been damaged by the Council’s failure to promptly fix a guttering defect at the adjoining property, which is owned and managed by the Council. Mr B says the Council has not confirmed it has fixed this defect and has not provided a suitable remedy for the damage, delay and disruption he has experienced.
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.
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 disrepair issues at 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.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is about the management of social housing by the Council as a social landlord.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman