Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about damage to the complainant’s fence. This is because the Ombudsman has no power to investigate a complaint when the Council is acting as a landlord.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council cut back a hedge and damaged his fence. Mr X lives next to a property which the Council owns and rents to tenants.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X owns his home. The property to the rear of his garden is owned by the Council and rented to Council tenants. Mr X says the Council reduced the height of the hedge and damaged his fence. He says the Council did not consult him or ask his consent. Mr X says he has lost his privacy in the garden and will have to pay to fix the fence. He wants the Council to replace the fence and use taller panels.

Assessment

6. I cannot start an investigation because I have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord. The Council was acting as a landlord, carrying out garden maintenance, when it cut the hedge. Its alleged failure to communicate with Mr X, before doing the work, was also a landlord function. I have no power to start an investigation and there is no part of the complaint that I can investigate.

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Final decision

7. I cannot start an investigation because I have no power to investigate a council when it is acting as a landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman