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Network Homes Limited (201915458)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 201915458

Network Homes Limited

7 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. The complaint concerns a dispute about whether the resident has sole use of the garden at the property.

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. In 2015, the resident brought a complaint to this Service concerning their garden boundary. This case was determined in January 2017, when the Ombudsman made a finding that the complained about issue was already the subject of legal proceedings.
  2. The resident contacted our Service on 4 March 2020 in order to raise a formal complaint regarding the sole use of the garden. The resident explained in this telephone call that the landlord had taken the matter to court some years prior, but that the issue of whether the resident had sole use of the garden, or whether it was in fact shared, was ongoing.
  3. On 16 June 2021, the landlord provided its final response to the resident, where it refused to accept the complaint, given that the resident had not raised their concerns within 6 months of the issue occurring. When the resident contacted this Service on 8 June 2021, they confirmed that the issue had exhausted the landlord’s internal complaints process a few years ago.

 

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 39 (o) of the Ombudsman Scheme states that the Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion:

“seek to raise again matters which the Housing Ombudsman, or any other Ombudsman has already decided upon.”

  1. The resident originally brought the issue about the garden dispute to this Service in 2015. At the time, it was brought to us as a boundary dispute. It has been recorded as a determination on this 2015 case reference (201518589), that the complaint was outside the jurisdiction of the Housing Ombudsman, as it concerned 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.
  2. The resident has confirmed in their correspondence that the issue is an ongoing one. The issue of whether the garden is for sole use, or shared use, is the same issue as the boundary dispute brought to our Service in 2015.
  3. Whilst the issue may be an ongoing one, the matter cannot be considered by this Service and the resident remains at liberty to seek further legal advice. I ask that the resident refrain from bringing this same issue back to our Service in future, for the reasons outlined above. I am therefore satisfied that this is not a complaint which the Ombudsman can consider further.