Colchester Borough Council (202214451)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202214451

Colchester Borough Council

02 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 the landlord’s handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s cat entering her home and garden.
    2. The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s garden overgrowing onto her walkway.

Background

  1. The resident is a tenant of the landlord. The property is a house. She lives with her two children, one of whom has asthma, which she states is exacerbated by cats. The resident has made complaints which concern two of her neighbours; to avoid confusion, the neighbour who owns the cats will be referred to as the owner in this report.
  2. The resident reports that for months, since the beginning of 2022, she had informed her housing officer, that her neighbour’s garden was overgrown, and plants had grown onto her walkway which cut and stung her, but no action was taken.
  3. In September 2022 the resident reported to her housing officer that she was dissatisfied that the owner’s cat was entering her home and garden. She explained that the cat was toileting in the garden, which she reported was a danger to her young children, and that one of her children had asthma which was made worse by the presence of the cat. It informed her that it was unable to act to stop this, as cats have a right to roam, but urged her to take up the owner’s offer to buy her a water sprayer, which it stated would deter the cat from her entering her property. She then escalated this as a formal complaint in October 2022, as she wanted the landlord to take more robust action against the owner and the cat.
  4. The landlord’s stage one complaint response of 10 October 2022 did not uphold the resident’s complaint and reiterated that it was unable to take further action to prevent the cat entering her garden and home as cats have a right to roam. It reiterated the owner’s offer to buy her a water sprayer. It also confirmed that, in regard to her complaint of her neighbour’s overgrown garden, the correct policy was being followed to address the matter.
  5. On 12 October 2022 the resident stated that she wanted to make a complaint about her housing officer as, for months, she had been making reports about her neighbour’s garden being overgrown onto her walkway. She reported she was cutting and stinging herself on the overgrown plants, and she had not heard back from her housing officer. She escalated her complaint to the final stage of the complaint procedure on 13 October 2022 because she was dissatisfied that the landlord took no action to ensure that she could enjoy her home in peace. She stated that she sought for it to provide her with three cat deterrent alarms, or to ensure the owner kept control of the cat.
  6. The landlord’s final stage complaint response of 1 November 2022 did not uphold the resident’s complaint. Instead it urged her to accept the owner’s offer of a water sprayer to deter the cat, and informed her that it would provide her with three cat deterrent alarms, which it then delivered to her on the following day. It also explained that her housing officer had followed the correct procedure on addressing the overgrown garden, and action was being taken to address this, but sympathised with her frustration at the situation.
  7. She subsequently referred her complaint to this Service because she believed the landlord had not taken sufficient action. She sought for it to stop the cats from entering her garden and home. She raised the issue of the overgrown garden with this Service, but did not state what outcome she sought.

Assessment and findings

Scope

  1. When the Ombudsman considers complaints, we do not seek to determine whether the issue complained of occurred or not, but seek to establish whether the landlord’s response to a resident’s concerns were reasonable and appropriately considered the matter. The resident’s reports of the cat toileting in her garden have not been disputed, but the Ombudsman’s consideration still remains around the landlord’s response. Additionally, this investigation only considers the matters up to the landlord’s final response. Any new issues will need to be raised directly with the landlord for further consideration, if appropriate.

The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s cat entering her home and garden

  1. It was reasonable that, when the resident raised her complaint about the owner’s cat, the landlord managed her expectations, and informed her that it was unable to prevent local cats from roaming, because cats have a right to roam. She sought for the landlord to prevent the cat from entering her garden and home, but it was unable to meet this request, however it appropriately explored other solutions.
  2. Whilst the resident believed the housing officer was not assisting, it is clear that the housing officer spoke to the owner of the cat and relayed the offer of a water sprayer, as a means to deter the cat. This showed that the landlord took steps to provide a reasonable solution to the issue. The evidence provided to this Service suggests that the resident has not accepted the owner’s offer. It has therefore been recommended below for the landlord to liaise with the resident and the owner, in order to re-offer the water-sprayer, if the owner is agreeable.
  3. Furthermore, when the resident escalated her complaint to the final stage of the landlord’s complaints procedure, she requested for it to provide her with three cat deterrent alarms. It was appropriate that the landlord agreed to this request, and delivered the alarms promptly on 2 November 2022. It had no obligation, as per its policies, to do this, but it is clear it took the resident’s concerns seriously and attempted to find a solution for her.
  4. Overall, the landlord acted within its obligations to the resident, and attempted to address her concerns. In the absence of it being able to meet her request for it to prevent the cat from roaming in her garden, it offered reasonable alternative solutions, managed her expectations, and communicated with her promptly.

The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s garden overgrowing onto her walkway

  1. The landlord’s stage one complaint response, advised the resident that the issue of her neighbour’s overgrown garden was being addressed as per its policy. It was appropriate for it to provide her with an update. However, it would have been more appropriate for it to name of the policy, or highlight the procedure that it advised it was following. By providing her with more information it could have better managed her expectations regarding the next steps, and the expected timeframe to provide a solution.
  2. The landlord’s internal correspondence shows that the resident’s housing officer made arrangements for the garden to be cleared, which was an appropriate solution to her concerns. This was confirmed to have been completed on 14 February 2023, which sufficiently addressed the matter.
  3. In October 2022, the resident described that she had been raising this issue for nine months to her housing officer, which is a significant amount of time. This means that her issue was resolved around one year after she reports that she raised it for the first time. If this had been a routine repair, this would have been an unreasonable delay, however, with works that concern another resident’s property, there are more factors to consider, including whether the neighbour consented to the works. Therefore, this Service is unable to determine whether the landlord could have acted more promptly to maintain the neighbour’s garden, but recommendations will be made to assist the landlord should such matters occur again.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of:
    1. The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s cat entering her home and garden.
    2. The resident’s reports about a neighbour’s garden overgrowing onto her walkway.

Recommendation

  1. It is recommended that the landlord:
    1. Liaise with the resident and the owner, in order to re-offer the water-sprayer, if the owner is agreeable.
    2. Ensure it provides residents with sufficient information regarding the action it is taking when an issue concerns a neighbouring property. This should be in line with General Data Protection Regulations.