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B3 Living Limited (202327551)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202327551

B3 Living Limited

22 September 2025

 

Our approach

The Housing Ombudsman’s approach to investigating and determining complaints is to decide what is fair in all the circumstances of the case. This is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and the Housing Ombudsman Scheme (the Scheme). The Ombudsman considers the evidence and looks to see if there has been any ‘maladministration’, for example whether the landlord has failed to keep to the law, followed proper procedure, followed good practice, or behaved in a reasonable and competent manner.

Both the resident and the landlord have submitted information to the Ombudsman, and this has been carefully considered. Their accounts of what has happened are summarised below. This report is not an exhaustive description of all the events that have occurred in relation to this case, but an outline of the key issues as a background to the investigation’s findings.

The complaint

  1. The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of restricted access to a shared area.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the property, a 1-bedroom bungalow. He has lived there since February 2018 with his wife.
  2. On 4 October 2023 the resident told the landlord his neighbour was blocking access to a shared path that led to the back gardens of the properties. The landlord attended the property a short time later and informed him that as he could access the rear garden from his front garden it would take no action.
  3. The resident made a formal complaint to the landlord on 9 November 2023. He said he believed the neighbour was blocking access to a shared area and this was unreasonable. He also complained that the landlord had informed him if he made a complaint, it would not be investigated.
  4. On 22 November 2023 the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response. It said the current boundary appeared to be correct and had been the case for some time. The landlord did not uphold the resident’s complaint.
  5. On 29 November 2023 the resident escalated his complaint. The landlord issued its stage 2 complaint response on 18 December 2023. It confirmed that access from the footpath was restricted and committed to clearing the path to give the resident full access.
  6. The resident remained dissatisfied and brought the complaint to us.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Scheme states that:
  2. “The Ombudsman may determine the investigation of a complaint immediately if satisfied that the member has made an offer of redress following the Ombudsman’s intervention which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, resolves the complaint satisfactorily.”

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. We contacted the landlord on 15 September 2025 and provided it with a summary of our understanding of the events. This included some comments on areas that could have been handled better and what the landlord could do to resolve the resident’s complaint.
  2. The landlord offered to pay the resident £250 compensation for its handling of access issues. The resident informed us that he was satisfied with this as a resolution to his complaint.
  3. We are therefore satisfied that, following our intervention, that the landlord has agreed to take actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.c of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, the complaint was resolved with intervention.

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should now make the £250 compensation payment to the resident. The complaint has been resolved with intervention on this basis.