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Birmingham City Council (202318668)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202318668

Birmingham City Council

27 February 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 the resident’s reports of an overgrown embankment impacting her garden.

Background

  1. At the time of the complaint, the resident was a secure tenant of the landlord. She has since purchased the property. The property is a 3-bedroom house.
  2. The evidence suggests that the landlord was aware of the overgrown condition of a piece of land near to the resident’s garden and carried out some clearance works in 2021. At the time it received a number of objections so was unable to clear the land in full.
  3. On 17 April 2023 the resident raised a complaint with the landlord about the impact the overgrown embankment was having on her garden and property.
  4. The landlord responded on 5 June 2023 and said that arrangements would be made to cut back a hedge at the resident’s property. It also said that someone would attend to assess the overgrown area of land at the rear of the property.
  5. The resident remained dissatisfied at this response and escalated her complaint. The landlord issued its final response on 6 August 2023. It apologised for any inconvenience and said that:
    1. The area of land at the rear of the property was not resident-owned and therefore not maintained at public expense.
    2. The area was previously cleared as much as possible. Due to the incline and the objections received, it could not be completely cleared.
    3. The extensive growth of trees and undergrowth on the land would also require extensive work due to their location on an embankment. On this basis, the local housing team would not undertake any further work to the location at that stage.
    4. As a goodwill gesture, it would consider clearing the overgrowth from within the resident’s garden.
  6. After exhausting the landlord’s internal complaints procedure, the resident escalated the matter to this Service. She said:
    1. The overgrowth was affecting the light in her kitchen and 2 of the bedrooms.
    2. It was also damaging her fencing and shed and affecting her use of the garden.
    3. She was concerned about tree roots causing further damage.
    4. In resolution of her complaint, she wanted the landlord to cut the overgrowth back and keep it maintained.
  7. The resident purchased the property from the landlord in October 2023.

Assessment and findings

  1. The landlord’s grounds maintenance policy states that it is “committed to maintaining the standards of all communal land, areas and buildings in the neighbourhoods it manages”. It specifies that grounds maintenance includes grass cutting, tree maintenance and shrub bed maintenance. The resident’s occupancy agreement at the time stated that she was responsible for the upkeep of her garden.
  2. The piece of land in question is owned by the landlord and does not form part of any residential property. The landlord states that it is not maintained “at public expense” (eg by service charges). It is therefore unclear if this would be classed as a communal area and fall under the grounds maintenance policy. However, it would be reasonable to expect that the landlord, as the landowner, is responsible for ensuring that any overgrowth does not cause any damage to the surrounding properties.
  3. Following the resident’s complaint in April 2023, the landlord responded appropriately and agreed to inspect the overgrowth. It also agreed to cut back a hedge in the resident’s garden. This was reasonable in the circumstances.
  4. Within its final complaint response on 6 August 2023, it explained the actions that it had previously taken to clear the area. It said that the growth of trees and undergrowth would require extensive work due to being on an embankment. On this basis, it would not undertake any further work at that time. However, it would consider clearing the overgrowth from the resident’s garden. The resident has informed this Service that someone attended to quote for the works, but no further action was taken. While the landlord’s complaint response was proportionate, it failed to do as it said it would. If it decided not to clear the garden of overgrowth on the basis of the quote it received, it should have informed the resident of this. In addition, it failed to address her concerns about the damage caused to her fencing. This was unsatisfactory.
  5. In summary, the landlord’s response and resolution offer was appropriate and proportionate on the whole. It investigated the complaint and gave due consideration to what was reasonable in the circumstances. It was under no obligation to reduce the height of the trees or remove them unless they were proven to be dead, dying or dangerous, or causing direct damage. However, it failed to demonstrate effective dispute resolution and did not follow through on actions it had committed to take to put things right. This amounts to a service failure.
  6. We consider that it is appropriate for the landlord to pay the resident £100 compensation for the distress and inconvenience she experienced. This amount of compensation is compliant with the Ombudsman’s remedies guidance and the landlord’s compensation policy.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme there was service failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of an overgrown embankment.

Orders and recommendations

Orders

  1. Within 4 weeks of the date of this report, the landlord must
    1. Pay the resident £100 for its handling of the overgrown embankment.
    2. Write to the resident to apologise for the failure identified in this report.

Recommendations

  1. It is recommended that the landlord monitors the area in question on an annual basis and considers the possibility of a tree survey. This will help it to forecast and plan any future works that may be required.