Summary: A homeowner complained about the Council’s failure to take action regarding anti-social behaviour and noise disturbance by her neighbours, who are tenants of the Council. But we cannot investigate this matter because the law prevents us from considering complaints about what councils do in their role as social housing landlords.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mrs B, complained about the Council’s failure to resolve problems of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and noise nuisance from her next-door neighbours, who are its 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. In particular the law says 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, Schedule 5.5 (as amended)]

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Mrs B provided with her complaint. I also took account of information from the Council about its contacts with Mrs B and her neighbours. In addition I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The law we work under says we cannot investigate complaints about what councils do when they are carrying out their functions as landlords of their social housing properties. The Housing Ombudsman Service has responsibility for dealing with most complaints about the management of council housing.
5. In Mrs B’s case it is evident that the vast majority of her interactions with the Council about ASB and nuisance issues were with staff involved in managing her neighbours’ tenancy. It is also clear that housing management officers took responsibility for monitoring and investigating the allegations about ASB and noise disturbance, and for responding to her complaints.
6. The Council’s ASB Team was briefly involved in the case when it fitted noise monitoring equipment in Mrs B’s home for a time. But this intervention was made at the request of the housing office.
7. In the circumstances I consider the legal restriction on us investigating complaints about council housing management applies in Mrs B's case. As a result we cannot pursue her complaint issues any further.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate Mrs B's complaint that the Council had not done enough to deal with ASB and other nuisances caused by her neighbours. This is because we are precluded by law from pursuing complaints about councils when they act in their capacity as social housing landlords.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman