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Stonewater Limited (202441735)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202441735

Stonewater Limited

21 August 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:
    1. Reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB)
    2. Associated complaint

Determination (jurisdictional decision)

  1. 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. After carefully considering all the evidence, the Ombudsman has determined the complaint set out above is not within our jurisdiction to investigate under paragraph 41.a.

Background

  1. The resident lives in a 3-bedroom semi-detached house and is the freeholder. She pays a service charge to the landlord for maintenance of some external areas.
  2. In January 2023 the resident raised issues with the landlord concerning ASB by a neighbour. In May 2024 the resident raised a formal complaint about the landlord’s handling of ASB. The landlord issued a stage 1 complaint response on 1 July 2024, and a stage 2 complaint response on 28 March 2025.
  3. The resident referred her complaint to us on 16 January 2025. She explained that the ASB has not been fully resolved and that she still has issues relating to noise and drug use from her neighbour.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 25 of the Scheme sets out who can make complaints to the Ombudsman, primarily people who are or have been in a landlord/tenant relationship with a member landlord. This includes people who have a lease, tenancy, licence to occupy, service agreement or other arrangement to occupy premises owned or managed by a member. The person must have been in a landlord/tenant relationship with the member at the time of the complaint.
  2. On review of the title documents for the resident’s property, the resident holds an ‘absolute title’. This has been the case since January 2023. Therefore, at the time of the complaint the resident was a freeholder of the property and was not in a landlord/tenant relationship.
  3. Paragraph 41.a of the Scheme says that the Ombudsman cannot consider complaints which were not referred to the Ombudsman by one of the people who can use the Scheme under paragraph 25. As the resident does not meet the requirements of paragraph 25, this compliant is outside of the Ombudsman jurisdiction and will not be considered further.