Great Places Housing Association (202414406)

Decision
Case ID	202414406
Decision type	Investigation
Landlord	Great Places Housing Association
Landlord type	Housing Association
Occupancy	Assured Tenancy
Date	30 October 2025

Background

The resident lives in a 3-bedroom semi-detached home. He raised concerns about noise coming from the next-door neighbour’s property, especially overnight. He has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and has a very low tolerance to noise, which the landlord is aware of. The resident asked us to investigate his complaint because he does not feel that the landlord has done enough to respond to his concerns and he feels that he is being forced out of his home.

What the complaint is about

The resident’s complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of anti-social behaviour (ASB).
We have also investigated the landlord’s complaint handling.

Our decision (determination)

There was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of:
1. Reports of ASB.
2. The complaint.

We have not made orders for the landlord.

Summary of reasons

In summary, the Ombudsman found that the landlord:
1. Followed its ASB policy and took reasonable and proportionate steps to respond to the resident’s concerns about noise from his neighbour’s property.
2. Followed its complaints policy and procedure.

Our investigation

The complaint procedure

Date	What happened
24 August 2023	The resident contacted the landlord about banging coming from the neighbour’s property overnight. The landlord opened an ASB case, talked to the neighbour, and asked the resident to use a noise recording app and diary sheets to document the noise. The resident submitted three incidents with the noise app in October 2023 that recorded ‘minimal noise’ and a diary sheet with 4 entries in January 2024 where he heard kicking on the walls overnight. The resident asked for noise monitoring equipment and the landlord said that the council’s environmental health team needed more diary sheets before they would consider this. The resident sent an email to the landlord on 6 February 2024 saying, ‘all is fine’ and he had ‘no complaints’ and the landlord closed the ASB case.
3 July 2024	The resident contacted the landlord to say that the kicking and banging on the walls at night was continuing and he had been sleeping on the bathroom floor or staying elsewhere because of the noise. The noises were made by the neighbour’s child, who has special needs. The landlord opened a new ASB case.
15 November 2024	The resident raised a complaint about the landlord’s handling of his reports of ASB. He didn’t feel that the landlord was doing enough, and he asked for compensation and reimbursement of his rent as he had been staying elsewhere most of the time since February 2024.
16 December 2024	The landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response and did not uphold the resident’s complaint. It said that it had followed its policies and procedures in response to the reports of noise disturbance. The landlord said it needed the resident to submit more information through diary sheets before noise monitoring equipment would be considered.
11 February 2025	The resident escalated his complaint, reiterating his concerns that the landlord had not done enough to respond to his concerns about ASB. The landlord said it would respond by 18 March 2025.
3 April 2025	The landlord provided its stage 2 response. It did not uphold the resident’s complaint about its handling of reports of ASB. It had met with the resident and agreed the following going forward: The resident would stay at his home at least three times a week from 7 April 2025 and he would fill out diary sheets and return these in the week of 28 April 2025. The landlord would request access to the current noise app that the ASB specialists were using and asked the resident to use this to record noise disturbance. The landlord would review any diary sheets and noise app evidence in the week of 6 May 2025 and contact the resident to discuss this and any further steps required to address the concerns.
22 May 2025	The resident and neighbour signed a mediation agreement. They agreed to: Live peacefully and respectfully as neighbours. Get on and be neighbourly. Be considerate and mindful of noise between 11pm and 7am. Be civil to each other moving forward. Post a polite note to the other if there are future issues.
19 August 2025	The landlord’s mediation service spoke to the resident who advised he was not staying regularly at the property but when he had things were quiet.
Referral to the Ombudsman	The resident has remained unhappy as he doesn’t feel the landlord did enough to respond to the noise disturbance and he asked us to investigate his complaint. He said he is worried about the issue not being resolved in the long term, despite it seeming quieter since mediation when he’s been there. He wants compensation, including rent reimbursement, for the period in question as he hasn’t been staying much at his property.

What we found and why

The circumstances of this complaint are well known by the parties involved, so it is not necessary to detail everything that’s happened or comment on all the information we’ve reviewed. We’ve only included the key information that forms the basis of our decision of whether the landlord is responsible for maladministration.

Complaint	The landlord’s handling of reports of ASB.
Finding	No maladministration

The landlord’s ASB policy says it will respond to reports within 3 working days and offer advice and support to try to resolve the concerns. The policy says it will actively encourage engagement between parties in its approach to resolving issues before they escalate. It says it will seek a multi-agency approach when dealing with reported issues.
The landlord responded appropriately to the resident’s concerns about noise nuisance from his neighbour, as it:
1. Completed risk assessments.
2. Met with the resident and the neighbour multiple times to try to come up with solutions.
3. Asked the resident to complete diary sheets and record the noise.
4. Communicated with the resident’s social care support staff.
5. Communicated with the council’s environmental health team, and offered mediation.
The landlord was clear about what it would need from the resident in order to install noise monitoring equipment or to escalate his concerns further, and the resident did not provide this. It communicated with the resident regularly when the ASB cases were open.
We recognise the distress the resident has described regarding the noise from the next-door neighbour’s property and his concern that it may be an issue going forward. The resident has been not been staying at the property regularly since February 2024. Despite acknowledging that the environment seems to be quieter since mediation, the resident has continued to choose alternative accommodation.
Given the circumstances, we find the landlord has acted reasonably and in accordance with its policy. The decision to stay elsewhere was the resident’s choice, and therefore, it would not be reasonable to expect the landlord to refund rent payments, as the resident has requested.

Complaint	The handling of the complaint
Finding	No maladministration

The landlord’s customer feedback policy says it will acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days, respond at stage 1 within 10 working days, and respond at stage 2 within 20 working days.
At stage 1, the resident responded to the resident’s complaint within its policy. The response shows the landlord investigated and responded reasonably to the resident’s concerns.
At stage 2, the landlord responded to the resident’s complaint 11 working days after its timeframes. After the stage 2 escalation, the resident asked for a meeting with the landlord to discuss the complaint. The meeting was initially scheduled on 24 March 2025 and was then rescheduled by the resident to 1 April 2025. The stage 2 response was issued on 3 April 2025. This delay was reasonable to allow for the landlord and resident to meet to fully discuss the complaint and attempt to come up with a resolution.

Learning

We did not identify any concerns with the landlord’s communication or record keeping in this case.