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One Housing Group Limited (202106911)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202106911

One Housing Group Limited

18 November 2021


Our approach

  1. 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. 
  2. 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 is about the landlord’s handling of the resident’s concerns about the actions of the Residents’ Association.

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. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. Other residents in the area in which the resident lives have set up a Residents’ Association. The landlord provides the Residents’ Association with support, but it is a wholly separate and independent entity to the landlord.
  2. In early 2021, the resident raised concerns with the landlord regarding the conduct of the Residents’ Association and some of its members. The resident was unhappy with the way the Residents’ Association has dealt with them, feeling that they have been victimised by the Association.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 2 response on 18 June 2021, advising that it had raised the resident’s concerns with the Residents’ Association and suggesting that mediation may be helpful in resolving the situation.
  4. Unhappy with this response, the resident contacted this Service. They asked that we look into their concerns, stating that the landlord had not done enough to resolve their complaint about the Residents’ Association.


Reasons

  1. Paragraph 36 of the Housing 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 concerns the actions of the Residents’ Association.
  2. It is clear from information provided to this Service that the resident has a difficult relationship with the Residents’ Association. It is encouraging that the landlord has taken steps to help the resident. However, as the Residents’ Association operates under its own rules and is a separate entity to the landlord, its actions cannot be considered to have been carried out on behalf of the landlord.
  3. As set out in paragraph 36 of the Scheme, this Service considers complaints about how the actions or omissions of landlords affect their resident’s occupation of their property. As the landlord is not responsible for the Residents’ Association, the Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint about its conduct.