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London Borough of Islington (202343021)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202343021

Islington Council

11 October 2024


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 antisocial behaviour (ASB) reports.

Background

  1. The resident holds an assured tenancy with the landlord, a local authority, and lives in a 2-bedroom flat with his wife and child.
  2. In January 2023 the resident reported that a neighbour had been hitting his front door with various objects including an iron bar and that this had been going on for a considerable period of time. The resident told the landlord that he had reported at least 3 incidents of similar nature to the police in the previous 10 months and that he was fearful for his and his family’s safety.
  3. On 2 November 2023 the resident raised a formal complaint with the landlord and said that it had not come up with a resolution to the ASB issue, that the attacks were sporadic and that the neighbour had refused to talk to police. The resident asked the landlord to resolve the matter ‘immediately’ and that his life had been severely impacted by the harassment and violence caused by the neighbour. The landlord did not uphold this complaint stating it had actively engaged with several agencies to address the neighbour’s behaviour and it had followed the relevant policies and procedures.
  4. The resident escalated his complaint saying the landlord had failed to protect his family from a violent neighbour. In its stage 2 complaint response dated 5 January 2024, the landlord did not uphold the resident’s complaint and said:
    1. Its housing options team looked at the resident’s case and awarded a high risk move. It advised that ‘supported choice’ offers would be made when appropriate properties were identified.
    2. It had liaised with multiple agencies to manage the neighbour’s actions and that steps were taken to resolve the ASB.
    3. As there had been no further incidents since August 2023 any new incidents should be reported to both the landlord and the police.
  5. The resident referred his complaint to this Service in February 2024 as he does not agree with the landlord’s complaint response. He does not consider the landlord has done anything to stop the ASB from reoccurring and would like to know what it has done to prevent the neighbour from becoming violent in the future.

Assessment and findings

Scope of complaint

  1. Although the resident has told this Service that the incidents of ASB happened over 4 years, this investigation has primarily focussed on the most recent reports dealt with in the landlord’s latest complaint response. The scope of the investigation will focus on the landlord’s actions between January 2023 and 5 January 2024 when the stage 2 complaint response was issued. This is because residents are expected to raise complaints with their landlords in a timely manner so that the landlord has a reasonable opportunity to consider the issues whilst they are still ‘live’, and while the evidence is available to reach an informed conclusion on the events that occurred.

Reports of ASB

  1. In cases relating to ASB, it is not the Ombudsman’s role to determine whether ASB occurred or who was responsible. Rather it is to assess how a landlord has dealt with the reports it has received, and whether it has reasonably followed its policy and good practice, considering all the circumstances of the case.
  2. The landlord’s ASB policy sets out that it will take ASB reports seriously and carry out specific action dependent on the risk presented. The policy says that a risk assessment will take place and if it is determined a case is ‘high risk’ it will offer options such as a temporary move or advice around housing. It will also interview the alleged perpetrator and create an action plan. Where appropriate it will also liaise with other parties such as police and the relevant medical teams.
  3. The resident first reported that his neighbour had been attending his property and hitting his door with various objects on 26 January 2023. The landlord took appropriate steps to deal with this report as it met the resident to discuss the incident on 31 January 2023 and conducted a risk assessment on 1 February 2023. The risk assessment logged 6 separate incidents of ASB allegedly perpetrated by the resident’s neighbour. It took photos of the resident’s door and recorded the relevant police reference numbers. Due to the seriousness of the incidents, it offered the resident a temporary move to alternate accommodation. These were all reasonable steps taken in line with its ASB policy and reflective of the impact to the resident.
  4. While the temporary move was refused by the resident, he told the landlord that he felt he had no option but to move due to the harm the incident had caused him and his family. In response to this, the landlord completed a ‘high risk management transfer’ referral which was sent to the appropriate housing allocations team on 3 February 2023. This was a further positive step by the landlord who acted in line with its ASB policy on high risk cases.
  5. In addition to the actions taken with the resident, the landlord also liaised with appropriate third parties. The landlord spoke with the neighbour to understand their view on the incidents. It contacted relevant external agencies and police about the support available to try and prevent further incidents of ASB. This showed the landlord was eager to understand why the ASB was happening and find a resolution that was suitable for all involved.
  6. Following the landlord’s initial actions, on 25 April 2023 the resident contacted the landlord to advise that the neighbour had hit his door again that day. He advised he had called the police who had attempted to speak with the neighbour, but the neighbour had refused. This was understandably a distressing time for the resident and his family. However, the evidence shows that the landlord acted appropriately as it logged this incident within 5 working days and took further action throughout June 2023 to investigate what had happened. This included liaising with the appropriate third party agencies, police and its tenancy teams which led to further supportive measures put in place to try and prevent further ASB.
  7. The landlord continued to look at ways to support the resident and prevent further incidents of ASB between September and October 2023. The landlord requested disclosure from the police on the amount and types of reports that were made, and it exchanged emails with relevant third parties about support the neighbour may require. After discussion with the third parties, the landlord gave a verbal warning to the neighbour. The actions by the landlord during this period were reasonable and in line with its ASB policy.
  8. It is clear from what the resident has told this Service that he is worried and fearful for his and his family’s safety. He has expressed how his child has been affected by the incidents and that the anticipation that the same situation may happen again is significantly impacting their daily lives. While the Ombudsman appreciates these concerns, this impact is caused by the neighbour and not by the landlord’s actions in responding to the reports of ASB.
  9. After each report of ASB from the resident, the landlord conducted a risk assessment and took action to contact both the resident and alleged perpetrator. It liaised with multiple agencies to put support in place to try and prevent the ASB from occurring. It also offered the resident temporary accommodation to move away from a potentially unsafe situation and made a referral for a high-risk home move. The resident has told this Service that there have been no further incidents of ASB since August 2023, 14 months ago, which would support that the actions taken by the landlord have helped prevent further incidents happening. Taking all the circumstances into account the Ombudsman considers there is no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of the ASB reports.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration in the landlord’s handling of reports of ASB.