Thurrock Council (202208626)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202208626

Thurrock Council

11 March 2024


Our approach

What we can and cannot consider is called the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and is governed by the Housing Ombudsman Scheme. The Ombudsman must determine whether a complaint comes within their jurisdiction. The Ombudsman seeks to resolve disputes wherever possible but cannot investigate complaints that fall outside of this. 

In deciding whether a complaint falls within their jurisdiction, the Ombudsman will carefully consider all the evidence provided by the parties and the circumstances of the case.

The complaint

  1. The complaint concerns:
    1. The Council’s response to reports of antisocial behaviour.
    2. The level of cleanliness and maintenance in communal areas.

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, I have determined that the complaints as set out above, are not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The resident wrote to the Council on 27 February 2022 complaining about parked cars impeding access for emergency vehicles, safety doors being left open, excessive rubbish in the property and poor garden maintenance.
  2. The Council responded to the complaint on 11 March 2022, stating that it would send letters to all residents highlighting the following; the need for them to dispose of their rubbish properly, to keep all doors closed and not to park within the green spaces. The Council also stated that the schedule for garden maintenance had been adhered to and It reassured the resident that all concerns raised were being taken seriously.
  3. The resident remained dissatisfied and wrote to the Council on 22 March 2022, asking it to escalate the complaint to stage 2 of its complaints process. The resident requested the following from the Council:
    1. It should carry out ad hoc checks at various days/ times.
    2. It should show more discernment when placing tenants in the property and consider the impact certain types of tenants would have on vulnerable residents.
    3. It should show common sense when enforcing fire hazards and not penalise soft targets.
    4. It should arrange regular checks to ensure that the security gate was locked and that emergency access was not impeded by waste bins
    5. It should ensure the caretaker does a better job of maintaining communal areas.
  4. The Council issued its final response on 20 April 2022 and stated as follows:
    1. That the inspection carried out on 4 March 2022 was an ad hoc inspection and inspections are completed on different days and times.
    2. It operates a choice based lettings scheme and any applicant that matches a one-bedroom criteria would be eligible to place a bid and be considered.
    3. That all residents had been given warnings about items left in communal hallways, both by letter and in person and were advised that items would be removed on the next visit if required.
    4. That the property did not have a caretaking service. However, if the resident believed the property would benefit from having one it was open to discussions about this.
    5. That in response to the concerns the resident raised it would send out a general letter regarding the cleanliness of the building and reminding all residents to be respectful of this.
  5. The resident was unhappy with the Council’s final response and contacted this Service on 28 July 2022 and asked us to investigate his complaint.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 41(a) of the Scheme states 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.
  2. Paragraph 25 list the people who can make complaints to the Ombudsman as follows:
    1. a person who is or has been in a landlord/tenant relationship with a member. 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. If the complaint is made by an ex-occupier, they must have had a legal relationship with the member at the time that the matter complained of arose;
    2. an applicant for a property owned or managed by a member;
    3. a representative of any of the people above who is authorised by them to make a complaint on their behalf;
    4. a representative of any of the people above who does not have the capacity to authorise a representative to act on their behalf. The Ombudsman must be satisfied that the representative has the legitimate authority to act on the person’s behalf; or
    5. person with authority to make a complaint on behalf of any of the people above who is deceased.
  3. In this case, the current leaseholder of the property is not the resident but a third party. As such it is the third party, and not the resident, that has the landlord/tenant relationship with the Council.
  4. The resident was the leaseholder of the property, having exercised their Right To Buy in 1990. In 2015, a third party purchased the lease from the resident and granted a sublease to the resident, which the Council was not party to.
  5. As the resident did not have a legal relationship with the Council at the time that the matter complained of arose, I have determined that the complaint, as set out above and in accordance with paragraph 41(a), is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.