Citizen Housing (202204117)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202204117

Citizen Housing

30 May 2023

 

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:
  1. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB) between 2018 and 2021.
  2. The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB at the beginning of 2022, and the resident’s request for the neighbour to be evicted.

Jurisdiction

  1. What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. This is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. 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. The resident, who is an assured tenant, first started raising issues regarding ASB to the landlord in 2018. The ASB consisted of what the resident believed to be noise nuisance. Between 2018 and 2021, the resident advised that the issues continued, and that they also progressed to intimidation, harassment, and the use of slurs.
  3. The landlord’s investigation of the resident’s reports between 2018 and 2021 concluded that there was no ASB from by her neighbour during this period. The landlord believed that the diary sheets that had been submitted by the resident described general living noise. It also reviewed footage from the resident’s ring doorbell, and found that the noise from the footage was also general living noise. The landlord’s position was outlined in its review of the resident’s recent reports of ASB dated 29 November 2021.
  4. After carefully considering all the evidence, the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB between 2018 and 2021 is outside of this Service’s jurisdiction. This is due to the time elapsed between the issues occurring and the resident raising the complaint with the landlord about its response.
  5. This is in line with paragraph 42(c) of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, which states that “The Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion 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”. In this case the formal complaint considered in this report was made on behalf of the resident, by this service, on 13 June 2022.

Background

  1. Following its review of the resident’s reports dated 29 November 2021, the resident made another report of ASB in May 2022. The landlord asked the resident to provide evidence in the form of a diary sheet. Subsequently, the resident approached this Service on 13 June 2022 and explained that she had been suffering with ASB since 2018, and that she either wanted the neighbour to be evicted, or for the landlord to arrange a priority move for her.
  2. On 13 June 2022, this Service raised a formal complaint with the landlord, on the resident’s behalf, in respect of its response to her reports of ASB. This led to the landlord re-investigating the previous issues and arriving at the same conclusion. It also highlighted in its stage one response, dated, 28 June 2022, that it had asked the resident to provide diary sheets for the most recent issues, in May 2022, but that the resident had not complied.
  3. Its final response reiterated its stage one findings, and the findings from its review of the resident’s reports in November 2021. It also explained that there were no grounds to evict the neighbour, and that there was not sufficient evidence to grant the resident a priority move. It concluded that there had been no ASB, but encouraged the resident to make diary sheets should any further issues continue. Additionally, it offered advice to the resident regarding how to pursue a move should she wish to do so. The resident advised this Service that her wish remained to be moved or to have the neighbour evicted.

Assessment and findings

Policies & Procedures

  1. Section 4 of the landlord’s ASB and hate crime policy states that the resident is expected to “respond to any requests for information and to carry out any actions requested, in order to support any investigation, for example by providing diary sheets”.
  2. Section 2.4 of the landlord’s ASB and hate crime policy states that things such as general living sounds are note ASB. This also includes children playing.

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB beginning in 2022, and the resident’s request for the neighbour to be evicted.

  1. When potential ASB issues are raised by the resident, it is the duty of the landlord to investigate the issues, in order to determine the level of detriment caused to the resident. Additionally, in the case of reports of noise nuisance, the landlord must determine whether or not it is actually ASB or generally accepted normal living noise.
  2. However, it is also important for the resident to aid the landlord in investigating the issues. As stated in section four of the landlord’s ASB and hate crime policy, the resident is expected to “respond to any requests for information and to carry out any actions requested, in order to support any investigation, for example by providing diary sheets”. Should the resident fail to provide such information, the landlord would not be able to adequately determine the detriment caused to the resident, and therefore, whether or not the issues should be investigated as ASB.
  3. It is clear from the evidence provided that the landlord requested diary sheets and evidence from the resident following her reports of noise nuisance in May 2022. The resident did not dispute that this information was requested by the landlord. However, the resident did not provide these diary sheets until September 2022. At this point, too much time had elapsed for the landlord to reliably and fairly investigate the issues.
  4. Although the time elapsed was excessive, the landlord did acknowledge the diary sheets and explained that the issues outlined in them did not constitute ASB or noise nuisance, and that it was general living noise. The landlord also acknowledged that the resident felt her living situation was not suitable for her.
  5. As a result, the landlord provided detailed information as to how the resident could register for a move and appropriately explained that it would not be reasonable for it to arrange a priority move for her. This was because there was no evidence that there was a serious threat to her health or wellbeing, nor was there any evidence that there was ASB directed towards her. This was also the landlord’s reasoning for not evicting the neighbour. This was an appropriate stance for the landlord to take.
  6. The landlord was fair and reasonable with the resident. It explained its reasoning fully and appropriately, and it acted reasonably in respect of the resident’s search for a new property. Additionally, it had attempted to take the appropriate steps in investigating the ASB issues that the resident had raised. However, without appropriate cooperation from the resident, and detailed dates, times, and lengths of noise nuisance, the landlord was limited in what it could investigate. Therefore, it is the opinion of this Service that there was no maladministration by the landlord in regard to its handling of the resident’s reports of ASB beginning in 2022, and the resident’s request for the neighbour to be evicted.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports of ASB beginning in 2022, and the resident’s request for the neighbour to be evicted.