Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council not acting in line with its contract with her because it is reasonable for her to take court action in relation to the contract. Further, we could not achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

The complaint

1. Ms X owns a property that she let to the Council. The Council used the property as temporary accommodation to a tenant. Ms X complained the Council:
• had not confirmed what court action it had taken to ensure vacant possession after she told it she wanted the property back;
• did not carry out repairs to reinstate the property to the condition it was in at the start of its lease, as stipulated in the contract;
• asked Ms X to obtain quotes for the repairs needed, which she considers it should have taken responsibility for;
• failed to provide keys for the property, following the locks being changed; and
• issued a Council Tax bill back-dated to the date the tenant left, which was before any repairs had been carried out.
2. Ms X says she has lost rental income as a result of the Council’s delay in carrying out repairs after the tenant left and is faced with a backdated Council Tax bill.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X and the complaints correspondence provided by the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

8. Ms X let her property to the Council, which used it to provide temporary accommodation to a tenant, that was due to end on 19 June 2024. Ms X had raised concerns with the Council about the state of the property and about anti-social behaviour by the tenant. For these reasons, in April 2024, she gave the Council notice she wanted the property back. The Council gave notice to the tenant asking them to leave by early June. The tenant did not leave. In its complaint response in November 2024, the Council confirmed it has instructed solicitors to make an application to the court to obtain possession.
9. In a further complaint response in December 2024, the Council accepted it had not taken all relevant steps to address the antisocial behaviour Ms X had reported and to keep her updated, for which it apologised. It also apologised for not keeping her informed about steps it was taking to support the tenant to maintain the tenancy. It added that an officer was considering her concerns about the handing back of the property now the tenant had left.

My assessment

10. Most of Ms X’s concerns relate to her understanding and expectation of what the Council would do under the contract between them. It is reasonable for her to take court action to address those contractual issues. Further, we could not achieve the outcome she seeks.
11. The Council accepted some fault in the way it handled her reports of antisocial behaviour and in its communication with her, for which it has apologised. This is an appropriate remedy and, in any case, there is insufficient injustice caused to warrant further investigation.
12. It is reasonable for Ms X to appeal to the Council if she disagrees with its decision that she is liable for Council Tax from the date the tenant left.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it would be reasonable for her to take court action to address the contractual issues she complained about.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman