Landlords can now complete the Complaint Handling Code Annual Submissions form. More information is available online.

Peabody Trust (201908122)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 201908122

Peabody Trust

24 February 2022


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 is about information provided to the resident regarding parking restrictions in the local area.

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 and moved into the property in 2018.
  2. From information provided to this Service, we understand that, until recently, the resident had a permit from the local authority to park their car on public roads in the local area. In 2020, the resident applied to renew their permit and the local authority refused, explaining that the building in which the resident lives is part of a car free development. This Service understands this to mean that residents of that building are not eligible to apply to the council for parking permits.
  3. The resident submitted a complaint to the landlord. They accepted that the property was advertised as being “car free”, however, they had understood this to mean that no parking would be provided on the estate. The resident complained that the landlord had an obligation to explain that this also applied to parking in the wider area surrounding their property.
  4. The landlord provided a final decision on 30 July 2021. Its position was that the term “car free” was “self-explanatory”. The landlord also noted that the resident had made enquiries about this issue in 2019 and also raised an earlier complaint, which it had responded to in January 2020.
  5. The landlord provided a further response to the resident on 16 December 2021. This reiterated its earlier position, and set out that the landlord was “not obligated to inform residents of parking availability within an area, as the onus to investigate this lies with the resident”
  6. The resident referred their complaint to this Service on 20 December 2021.

Reasons

  1. Paragraphs 39 (d) and (e) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme set out that:

“The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion:

(d) The Ombudsman will not investigate complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, were brought to the Ombudsman’s attention normally more than 12 months after they exhausted the member’s complaints 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”

  1. In this case the resident’s complaint concerns the information the landlord provided about parking in the local area in 2018.
  2. On review of the information we hold on file, I can see the following.
  3. The resident first contacted this Service to raise this issue in September 2019. At the time, there was no evidence that the resident had brought a complaint to their landlord. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints which have not exhausted the landlord’s complaint procedure and provided information to both parties about how to progress the matter.
  4. The resident contacted this Service in July 2020. This Service provided a response on 28 July 2020, explaining that we could not investigate this complaint without evidence that a complaint had been brought to the landlord, and asked the resident to provide this.
  5. The next contact we received from the resident was in December 2021, when they referred their most recent complaint to their landlord.
  6. The Ombudsman expects complaints to be brought to a landlord within six months of an issue’s occurrence, and to this Service within twelve months of the landlord’s final decision. From the information available, it is clear that the resident has been making enquiries and complaints to their landlord, about their parking issues, for several years.
  7. The resident made a complaint towards the end of 2019/early 2020. This Service was not provided with copies of any complaint correspondence when the resident made earlier enquiries about this matter, therefore we could not investigate the complaint. I am satisfied that this was explained to the resident at the time. The resident then contacted this Service in December 2021, nearly two years after the landlord states a final response was provided. Therefore, the Ombudsman cannot consider the earlier complaint made by the resident.
  8. The most recent complaint that the resident asked this Service to consider was made to the landlord in 2021 and concerned the same issue. I am satisfied that, at the time the resident made this further complaint, this issue has been ongoing for several years, and the resident had already complained about this to the landlord. The Ombudsman cannot consider the resident’s recent complaint as it was not brought to the landlord in time.