Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of disrepair in a private rented tenancy. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s investigation of her complaint about her landlord whom she says had failed to prevent dampness and mould growth in her private rented home. She wants the Council to accept that the flat is uninhabitable in order for her to give up her tenancy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Miss x says her rented flat is in a poor state of repair due to dampness which she says is affecting her and her child. She reported this to the Council and wants her tenancy to end due to the property being unfit to live in.
6. Miss X reported the disrepair in January 2024. The Council responded to her report by contacting her within 5 days and it arranged an appointment to visit her within 12 days. At the same time the Council asked the landlord to provide copies of energy performance and electrical safety certificates.
7. The Council visited the property and issued the landlord with a hazard awareness notice in respect of a category 1 hazard for dampness under the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) provisions of the Housing Act 2004. The Council required the landlord to carry out works which it identified as being necessary to remedy the disrepair.
8. The Council says it is a requirement that the landlord is given sufficient opportunity to rectify any hazards identified by it before enforcement action in the form of an improvement notice of prohibition order can be taken. It says the landlord has been co-operative since its initial inspection.
9. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
10. In this case the Council responded promptly to Miss X report of disrepair and served the appropriate notice according to the requirements of the legislation.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s investigation of disrepair in a private rented tenancy. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman