Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council has ignored her requests for action on rats and nuisance caused by the empty house next to her property. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. And we cannot achieve the outcome she is seeking.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council ignored her requests for action on rats living at the empty property next to her home. She says the property is also in a state of disrepair.
2. Miss X wants the property cleaned, the owner located, and the property sold.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 or continue 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained to the Council about an empty property next to her home. She said there are rats in the gardens which are overgrown, with refuse dumped in the back garden.
7. The Council confirms officers visited the property which was locked. They inspected the gardens as best they could and established there was no evidence of rat runs, no holes in the fence and walls, and no broken air vents. All the fence base boards were in place.
8. The Council says officers wrote to the owners of the property as detailed on the Land Registry, asking them to clear the property. However, with no evidence that rats are living on the property, it cannot take further action.
9. We will not investigate this complaint as we are not likely to find fault. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Council has a duty to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate when a person living in their area complains about a potential nuisance.
10. In this case, the evidence shows the Council has done this as it has inspected the property and established there is no evidence to warrant it taking further action.
11. As the Council has followed the correct process to investigate Miss X’s concerns, we could not find fault with the decisions and actions it has taken.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions. Also, Miss X wants the property cleaned and sold. As the property is privately owned, this is not something we can achieve for her.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman