Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions on problems with access to the complainant’s home. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. We cannot consider complaints about the Council’s actions when it is acting as a social housing landlord.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council has not resolved issues she has with her rights of access to her property.
2. Mrs X confirms she is trying to buy her home, but at present she is still a Council tenant.

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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. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of housing let on a long lease by a council that is a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5B, schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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Final decision

7. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it concerns the Council’s actions as a social housing landlord.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman