Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council had delayed in taking action against the owner of the neighbouring property which was in a state of disrepair and causing damage to her property. We have not found fault with the actions of the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained that the London Borough of Haringey (the Council) failed to take sufficient action to deal with the empty property adjacent to her property since it fell into disrepair in 2018. This has resulted in water damage to Mrs B’s property and the situation continues to cause her significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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What I have or have not investigated

5. Mrs B did not complain to us until July 2024. She says this is because she was working with the Council to try and resolve the situation. I understand her reasons but consider some of the events are too old to consider now. I have limited my investigation to the events from July 2023. I have included the earlier events for background information.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. Mrs B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Section 215 notice

7. Section 215 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 gives councils the power, in certain circumstances, to take steps to require land to be cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area or if it appears that the amenity of part of their area is being adversely affected by the condition of neighbouring land and buildings. A council may serve a notice on the owner requiring the situation to be remedied.

What happened

8. Mrs B lives next door to an empty property. She first complained to the Council about a broken window in the property in June 2017. The Council started to investigate. It traced the owner, with assistance from Mrs B. They said they were waiting for planning perMrsion to convert part of the property into residential use. (The Council’s website shows that planning perMrsion had been granted but building control approval was outstanding at this point). The Council monitored the property and continued to contact the owner to chase up progress. The owner then went into hospital, so the Council allowed them time to recover.
9. In March 2018 the Council tried to inspect the property to assess its condition but was unable to do so. The owner said they were still in hospital, and it was not reasonable to pursue them. At some point in December 2018 the owner let put part of the property and the Council had to cease any further action. Mrs B says she told the Council that no-one was living there.
10. In June 2019 scaffolding which had been erected as part of the development and repair work became a problem. The Council intervened and the scaffolding company removed it. In October 2020 the Council said to Mrs B that it was too risky on the current information to apply for a compulsory purchase order.
11. The Council says it took no further action for some time due to the COVID19 restrictions.
12. In the autumn of 2021, it picked up the case again following contact from Mrs B. In October 2021 the Council noted the council tax department had been informed in 2020 that the owner had died. The Council however established he was alive and Mrs B said she had seen the owner.
13. In early 2022 the Council offered to visit Mrs B and served a section 215 notice on the owner to improve the condition of the property.
14. In July 2022 the Council, having exhausted its informal enforcement options, held an empty property meeting. It decided to use its enforced sale powers (due to a large council tax debt) to ensure the property was brought back into use and did not adversely affect Mrs B anymore. The Council said it met with Mrs B to explain its approach. Mrs B disputes this.
15. In July 2023 the Council was again informed the owner had died.
16. The Council has been pursuing this action since that time. The action was complicated by the false information that the owner had died with no known executor and so the Council had no person on whom to serve formal documents. This has now been rectified.
17. In March 2024 Mrs B complained to the Council that water had penetrated her home from the open roof next door. The Council responded saying that it has been trying to enforce the sale of the property since July 2022 and the matter was ongoing. The lead officer on the case was going to contact Mrs B to update her on the current position.
18. Mrs B escalated her complaint saying that the Council had failed in its duty of care to prevent damage to her property. She suggested the Council could have used compulsory purchase powers or other legal options.
19. The Council responded in early June 2024. It explained the action that had been taken and the reasons for the time taken. It said that compulsory purchase was a last resort and ultimately has to be approved by the Secretary of State. It felt the enforced sale would be the better option. It did not agree there had been any unreasonable delays and said it had to ensure all other informal options had been exhausted before proceeding with the enforced sale.
20. Mrs B complained to us.

Analysis

21. The majority of the action and decision-making in this case took place prior to July 2023. By this point the Council had already started the process of enforced sale due to council tax debts.
22. I understand Mrs B is frustrated by the time it is taking. However, due to the complicating factors regarding the owner’s complaints of harassment against the Council while they were in hospital, the false information about the owner’s death on two occasions (including the provision of a death certificate) and the need to identify a person on whom to serve formal documentation, I do not consider the Council delayed unnecessarily.
23. I also note Mrs B has the option of pursuing legal action against the owner if she considers they have damaged her property. The Council is not responsible for the damage.

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Final decision

24. I have completed my investigation into this complaint as I am unable to find fault causing injustice in the actions of the Council towards Mrs B.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman