Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a boundary fence. This is because there is another body is better place to consider this complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council has refused to confirm its ownership and responsibility over a strip of land at the rear of her property. She says the fence separating her property and the strip of land has been damaged and in need of repair, as there is a risk that damage will be caused to her property. She holds the Council responsible for this work.
2. Mrs Y says the issue has cost her time and money in getting surveyors to consider the boundary. She also says the issue has caused her frustration and inconvenience.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs Y bought a house in 1978. Behind her property was a fence to separate her property with the land beyond it, which belonged to the Council. The Council sold the land in 2009 to a third party. The third party kept the fence in good repair until 2019. Since this date the fence has been damaged and is now in need of repair.
7. When Mrs Y approached the third party, they denied ownership of the land. The third party said the land, on which the fence sits, belonged to either the Council or the original developer of the land who had built the houses.
8. Mrs Y contacted the Council, asking it to repair the fence. However, the Council said it no longer owned the land behind her property and so was not responsible for the repair. Mrs Y then complained in March 2021.
9. The Council carried out further investigation and shared information with Mrs Y in August and September about the various pieces of land at the rear of her property. It said that there was a slither of land behind her property which appeared to be owned by the original developer who had built her house in the 1970s.
10. With reference to various maps, the Council explained that it did not own the land and so was not responsible for the fence repairs, but that it believed there could be an error in the records for ownership. It therefore suggested Mrs Y contact the Land Registry. It did however offer to repair the fence if the residents of the neighbour houses agreed to this, albeit on a goodwill, one-time basis.
11. Mrs Y has declined this offer, as she considers the Council’s offer to be contradictory to its explanation. Consequently, Mrs Y came to us in October.

Analysis

12. At present, there is a dispute over who owns the land of which the fence sits. The Council has said it is not the owner of the land. The Ombudsman does not have the power in law to decide whether a body or a person owns a particular piece of land.
13. Mrs Y may wish to contact the Land Registry to raise the potential discrepancy in the records. However, ultimately, the ownership of land is something only a court can decide. Therefore, if Mrs Y therefore wishes to dispute the Council’s position the court would be better placed than us to consider her complaint. Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is another body better placed than us to consider the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman