North East Derbyshire District Council (201911894)

REPORT

COMPLAINT 201911894

North East Derbyshire District Council

11 September 2021

Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

1. It has been difficult to engage with the resident to clarify the issues which they wish to bring as part of this complaint. Since January 2021, in their contact with this Service, the resident has referred to the following complaints:
   1. A dispute about the boundary between their garden and their neighbour’s garden.
   2. The landlord’s handling of a Freedom of Information Act and the disclosure of the resident’s housing file.
   3. The landlord’s decision to restrict the resident’s contact with it and apply for an injunction.
   4. The issuance of a tenancy warning
   5. The handling of a right to buy application and the possible discount available for improvements carried out to the resident prior to purchasing the property.
   6. An issue relating to a ‘Better Homes Scheme’
   7. Roof repairs
   8. The conduct of the landlord’s staff
2. The landlord has also made us aware of the following complaints brough by the resident:
   1. A complaint about direct debit payments

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

3. When a complaint is brought to the Ombudsman, we must consider all the circumstances of the case as there are sometimes reasons why a complaint will not be investigated.
4. After carefully considering all the evidence, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

5. In their contact with this Service, the resident has made reference to an extensive list of complaints. They state that they have made sixty complaints over the past eighteen years.
6. In their correspondence with this Service, the resident has been quite clear that they believe that their experience with the landlord has been poor and that the number of complaints they have made is evidence of significant failure on the landlord’s part.
7. In order to try to clarify the issues which have been complained about, this Service has contacted the landlord. In its responses, the landlord explained that it had not received a formal complaint from the landlord for some time. It provided copies of the complaint responses which it had on file, which were:
   1. A complaint about direct debit payments
   2. A complaint about a boundary dispute
8. The resident has provided no copies of complaints they have made to the landlord.

Reasons

9. The Housing Ombudsman Scheme sets out the type of complaints which this Service can and cannot consider.
10. Paragraph 39 of the Scheme states that…
11. ‘The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion:
    1. are made prior to having exhausted a member’s complaints procedure, unless there is evidence of a complaint handling failure and the Ombudsman is satisfied that the member has not taken action within a reasonable timescale

d. were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the member’s complaint procedure             

e. were not brought to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period which would normally be within 6 months of the matters arising

h concern matters that are, or have been, the subject of legal proceedings and where a complainant has or had the opportunity to raise the subject matter of the complaint as part of those proceedings

m fall properly within the jurisdiction of another Ombudsman, regulator, or complaint-handling body

The complaint about a boundary dispute concerning the neighbour and the resident’s gardens.

12. This Service has seen correspondence from the landlord concerning this issue, the most recent of which was dated 2018. There is no evidence to show that the resident has brought this matter as a recent complaint to the landlord. This Service cannot consider a complaint about the landlord’s responses in 2018.
13. It may be helpful to note that, if this matter remains unresolved, this Service has no jurisdiction to order the change of boundary lines or enforcement action against parties who may have encroached upon them.

The complaint about the landlord’s handling of a Freedom of Information Act and the disclosure of the resident’s housing file.

14. This Service has seen no evidence that the resident has brought a complaint to the landlord about this issue. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot consider this complaint.
15. The landlord confirmed that a Subject Access Request was made by the resident in March 2019 and complied with in the same month.
16. If the resident chooses to pursue this matter further it is important to note that complaints about compliance with FOI requests, and complaints about the handling of an individual’s information are a matter for the Information Commissioners Office.

The complaint about the landlord’s decision to restrict the resident’s contact with it and apply for an injunction

17. This Service has seen no evidence that the resident brought this to the landlord as a formal complaint. Therefore, the Ombudsman will not consider this complaint.
18. We note that the landlord issued a letter to restrict the resident’s contact in October 2019. Therefore, any complaint now would most likely be considered by this Service to be out of time.
19. This Service is also aware that the landlord applied for an injunction which is in place until December 2021. This Service has no jurisdiction to consider decisions made by the Court. If the resident wishes to challenge the injunction, they should seek their own legal advice.

The complaint about the issuance of a tenancy warning

20. From evidence provided by the resident, a tenancy warning was issued by the landlord on 12 November 2019. This Service has seen no evidence that the resident has brought a complaint to the landlord concerning this issue. Therefore, this is not a complaint which the Ombudsman can consider.
21. This Service also notes that this letter was issued in November 2019, if a new complaint is made, this Service will not investigate this as it will have been made more than six months after this occurred.

The complaint about the handling of a right to buy application and the possible discount available for improvements carried out to the resident prior to purchasing the property.

22. This Service has seen no evidence that the resident has brought a complaint about this issue, therefore we cannot consider this part of the resident’s complaint
23. Complaints about the Right to Buy process relate to the decision of a council to dispose of or sell property in its capacity as a local authority. Complaints about the Right to Buy process fall within the jurisdiction of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The complaint about an issue relating to a ‘Better Homes Scheme’

24. Neither this Service, nor the landlord are aware of a ‘Better Homes Scheme’. The landlord has confirmed that it has no record of any complaint from the resident concerning repairs, the condition of their property, or work relating to ‘Decent Homes’.
25. Despite the lack of clarity about the subject of this complaint, this Service has seen no evidence that the resident brought a complaint to the landlord about this matter. This Service cannot investigate this complaint

The complaint about roof repairs

26. The landlord confirmed that roof repairs were carried out at the property in 2013. There is no evidence to show that the resident submitted a complaint about this issue to the landlord, therefore this Service cannot investigate this complaint.
27. If the resident is experiencing current issues with the roof this Service would advise them to report this to the landlord.

The complaint about the conduct of the landlord’s staff

28. In correspondence to this Service, the landlord set out that it understands this relates to matters which were submitted as part of its application for an injunction – if this is the case, then this complaint would be a matter for the Courts.
29. This Service has seen no evidence of a complaint brought by the resident about this issue. Therefore, this Service cannot consider this complaint.

The complaint about direct debits

30. From what we understand about this issue, direct debit payments were cancelled causing the resident’s rent account to go into arrears. From information provided by the landlord, we understand that this issue occurred around 2016 and have seen evidence that the landlord responded to the resident’s enquiries or complaints in 2018.
31. This Service will not consider a complaint about the landlord’s responses in 2018 as there is no evidence that this was in response to a formal complaint, and they were issued too long ago.
32. There is no evidence to show that the resident has submitted a recent complaint about this issue. If this were to happen, this Service would not consider this matter for investigation as the complaint would have been brought five years after the issue occurred.