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Broxtowe Borough Council (201913786)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 201913786

Broxtowe Borough Council

30 July 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. The complaint concerns the Council’s handling of reports of repair required to the resident’s garage roof.

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. 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.
  2. 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

  1. From the information this Service has seen, the resident has a separate tenancy for their garage. The resident made reports of disrepair to the Council in May 2019, specifically that the garage roof is leaking, and that the Council should undertake repairs to fix it.
  2. The Council responded to the complaint in December 2019, stating amongst other things, that an operative found no visible damage to the garage roof when they attended the property in August 2019. In this same letter, the Council confirmed that the resident had terminated the tenancy for the garage (presumably sometime in 2019).
  3. The resident remained dissatisfied with the response and escalated the matter with the Council. In January 2020, the resident contacted the Ombudsman and brough their complaint to this Service. It was explained in a letter to the resident dated 29 January 2020, that it was not clear whether this complaint falls within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

 

  1. Throughout 2020, there was communication and correspondence between our Service, the resident and the Council, in an attempt to establish the Council’s position on the matter and for the issuance of a final response letter. As part of this correspondence, the Council confirmed that its letter to the resident dated 20 December 2019 should be treated as its final response (made under stage 2 of its internal complaints process).

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 36 of the Ombudsman Scheme states that:

The person complaining, or on whose behalf a complaint is made must have been, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, adversely affected by those actions or omissions in respect of their application for, or occupation of, property.

  1. The resident’s complaint turns on their belief that the Council should repair the roof to their garage.
  2. The garage has a separate tenancy to that of their property. I understand the resident terminated the tenancy for the garage, at the time they raised their first report to the Council, it is safe to assume the garage tenancy was in place.
  3. The resident’s garage had a separate tenancy, it was not rented as part of a flat or house. Therefore, any repair issue affecting the garage would not affect the resident’s property (or home).
  4.  As such, the Ombudsman cannot consider this complaint
  5.  As the garage is provided by the Council, this may be a matter for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), given that the Council was acting in its role as a local authority, and not as a landlord.