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Charnwood Borough Council (202501861)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202501861

Charnwood Borough Council

30 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 response to the resident’s reports of drains flooding in the garden of the property.

Background

  1. The resident lives with her three children. The landlord is aware that the resident and her children have vulnerabilities.
  2. The resident made a complaint to the landlord in October 2024. She said that when it rained the external drains flooded, causing a few feet of standing sewage water in her front and back garden and damp in the property. She explained that the issue had been ongoing for some time.
  3. The landlord acknowledged that there was a problem with the drainage pipes. It set out how it had responded to the resident’s reports each time she had reported the issue. The resident escalated her complaint as she remained unhappy that the cause had not been resolved.
  4. The landlord responded at stage 2 and again acknowledged the problem. It explained that the external drain pipes were the responsibility of the water supplier. It noted the water supplier had carried out work and it hoped this had resolved the issue.
  5. The resident referred the matter to us as the issue remained unresolved.

Assessment and findings

  1. Paragraph 53.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that:

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

The Ombudsman’s intervention

  1. We contacted the landlord on 18 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 has now offered to do the following:
    1. Apologise to the resident.
    2. Pay a total of £600 compensation directly to the resident.
    3. Commit to an undertaking that it will temporarily move the resident as soon as practicable in line with the landlord’s decant policy.
  3. The resident has indicated that she would be satisfied with this as a resolution to her complaint.
  4. We are therefore satisfied that, following our intervention, the landlord has agreed to take actions to remedy the matters raised which resolve the complaint satisfactorily.

Determination (decision)

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

Recommendations

  1. The landlord should take the following action within 4 weeks of the date of this report:
    1. Apologise to the resident.
    2. Pay a total of £600 compensation directly to the resident.
    3. Commit to an undertaking that it will temporarily move the resident as soon as practicable in line with the landlord’s decant policy.
  2. The complaint has been resolved with intervention on this basis.