From 13 January 2026, we will no longer accept new case enquiries by email. Please use our online complaint form to bring a complaint to us. This helps us respond to you more quickly.

Need help? Other ways to contact us.

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) (202326016)

Back to Top

 

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202326016

Notting Hill Genesis (NHG)

18 March 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 that other tenants were throwing cigarette butts onto her balcony.

Background

  1. The resident is a shared owner leaseholder living in a fifth floor flat in a six-floor building. The landlord is the freeholder.
  2. On 19 December 2022 and 3 February 2023, the resident reported to the landlord she had found cigarette butts on her balcony. The landlord and resident were not aware of who was responsible for this at this time. However, the landlord confirmed it would write about the issue in its newsletter and speak directly to the neighbours in the flats above.
  3. The resident raised a complaint with the landlord on 8 May 2023. She said a further cigarette dropped on her balcony on 5 May. She believed the landlord was ineffective in dealing with the issue. In its stage 1 complaint response of 22 May, it asked her to keep a diary of incidents. It said it would visit the flats above and if the issue continued and was traced it to a specific flat it would treat the matter as antisocial behaviour (ASB).
  4. The resident escalated her complaint on 29 May 2023. She believed the landlord was delayed in taking action on her reports and she did not feel safe using the balcony.
  5. The landlord provided its stage 2 complaint response to the resident on 25 July 2023. It believed the issue had stopped but acknowledged it should have called the flats above to ensure quicker resolution of the issue. It said it would take this step if the issue reoccurred. It apologised for the delay in locating the flats, which delayed resolution. It offered £50 compensation for this failing.
  6. In her complaint to the Ombudsman the resident said she wanted the landlord to stop the littering on her balcony. This was following her finding a further cigarette butt on her balcony on 20 September 2023. She also wanted additional compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused to her.

Assessment and findings

  1. In her complaint of 8 May 2023, the resident said the landlord’s actions had been ineffective since her initial reports of cigarettes littering her balcony. She made her initial reports on 19 December 2022 and 3 February 2023. She said the landlord failed to contact the upstairs flats as agreed. She said it had written to all residents on 5 April but its indirect approach was not effective. Despite the landlord mentioning a fire risk from discarded cigarettes, she said a further one dropped on her balcony on 5 May.
  2. The landlord’s reply of 22 May 2023 appropriately managed the resident’s expectations confirming the limitations in the action it could take. It said this was because the resident could not identify who was responsible and there were 3 flats above hers. . It appropriately confirmed it had emailed the 3 flats above the resident to warn of fire safety risks and to be mindful of the flats below.
  3. The landlord also confirmed its email of 4 April 2023 to all residents in the building advised of the dangers of disposing of cigarettes incorrectly. The emails were in line with what it promised to do in its email to the resident on 3 February. It also explained how the resident could assist by keeping a diary log of future incidents, and said it would actively monitor the situation by checking with the resident each month. These actions were an appropriate response to the issue in the circumstance that it was unknown which flat was responsible.
  4. In her complaint escalation of 29 May 2023, the resident raised concerns about the landlord’s delays in tackling the issue. She said it had not correctly identified which flats may be responsible and she had to clarify this for the landlord. She asked for a copy of the email the landlord said it sent to the 3 flats above hers.
  5. In its stage 2 response of 25 July 2023, the landlord recognised its delay in resolving the resident’s case. It said this was due to it confusing two flats in the block. It offered £50 compensation for this failing. This offer was in accordance with its compensation policy for an error of this scale and nature.
  6. The landlord attached a copy of the email it had sent to the 3 flats above on 18 May 2023. This addressed the resident’s further concerns it had failed to send this. It acknowledged it could have phoned the 3 flats above to offer a quicker resolution. It agreed it would complete this if the issue continued. This was an appropriate review of its actions, highlighting action it could take on further reports.
  7. Following the landlord’s final complaint response of 25 July 2023, on 31 July, the resident told it she was satisfied with the resolution. She confirmed she would report the issue if it occurred in future. She reported a further cigarette dropped onto her balcony on 20 September, leading to her complaint to the Ombudsman. In response the landlord confirmed it would contact the flats above again, which was in line with the approach in its stage 2 response.
  8. In summary the landlord was unable to take action with the flat responsible for dropping cigarette butts on the resident’s balcony. This was as both it and the resident did not know where it was coming from. Its communication with all residents and specifically the flats above was an appropriate preventative measure. It acknowledged the delay in doing this, awarding sufficient compensation. The landlord appropriately confirmed it would monitor the issue and it showed its intent to follow its ASB policy if it identified the perpetrator.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 53.b of the Scheme the landlord has offered redress to the resident prior to investigation which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion, satisfactorily resolves the complaint about its handling of the resident’s reports that other tenants were throwing cigarette butts onto her balcony