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Citizen Housing (202406779)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202406779

Citizen Housing

19 December 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 reports of antisocial behaviour (ASB).

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of a flat owned by the landlord. The landlord is aware she has vulnerabilities with her mental health.
  2. The resident raised a complaint to the landlord in November 2023. She was dissatisfied that it intended to close her ASB case. She explained she was a vulnerable person and felt unsupported.
  3. The landlord issued its stage 1 response on 29 November 2023, setting out there were historical reports of ASB between the resident and her neighbour. It said both parties had made counter allegations and there was a lack of evidence. After discussing matters with the parties involved and the police, it had filed the matter.
  4. On 11 December 2023, the resident escalated her complaint. She said she felt the landlord did not take her concerns seriously.
  5. The landlord responded at stage 2 on 12 January 2024. It summarised its investigation and subsequent actions following the resident’s reports of ASB. It also outlined the response it had received from the police. It gave the resident until 26 January 2024 to provide further evidence that the ASB was ongoing.
  6. The resident was dissatisfied with the landlord’s final complaint response and referred her complaint to this Service.

Assessment and findings

Scope of investigation

  1. The resident felt the landlord’s handling of her reports of ASB impacted her mental health. The Ombudsman empathises with the resident. However, as this Service is an alternative to the courts, we are unable to establish legal liability or whether a landlord’s actions or lack of action had a detrimental impact on the health of a resident. The Ombudsman is therefore unable to consider the personal injury aspect of this case. This is better suited for consideration by a court or a personal injury claim.
  2. This Service can only investigate matters which have completed the landlord’s complaints procedure, as per paragraph 42.a. of the Scheme. After the landlord issued its final complaint response, the resident expressed other concerns such as its handling of an incident with her neighbour in May 2024 and the property it offered her as a discretionary move. It is open for the resident to contact the landlord directly and make a separate complaint about the above issues.
  3. The Ombudsman recognises there were historical reports of ASB between the resident and her neighbour occurring between 2016 and 2022. The Ombudsman has seen no evidence that the resident raised a complaint to the landlord about its handling of the reports, completed its internal complaints procedure, or referred the matter to this Service for support. The Ombudsman encourages residents to raise complaints with their landlords at the time the events happen. This is because with the passage of time, evidence may be unavailable, which makes it difficult to conduct a thorough investigation.
  4. Paragraph 42.c of the Scheme (that was applicable at the time of the resident’s complaint) states the Ombudsman may not consider complaints which the resident did not bring to the attention of the member as a formal complaint within a reasonable period. This would normally be within 6 months of the matter arising. Taking this into account, and the availability and reliability of evidence, we have focused on the resident’s more recent reports of ASB from May 2023, up to the date of the landlord’s final complaint response dated 12 January 2024.

ASB

  1. When assessing complaints about the landlord’s handling of ASB, the Ombudsman’s role is to consider whether the landlord has adequately investigated the reported issues and taken appropriate and proportionate action, in line with its policies and procedures.
  2. The landlord’s ASB and hate crime policy states that on receipt of a report, it will contact the reporter promptly and agree an action plan. It expects residents to report all issues, respond to any requests for information, report all crimes to the police, report noise nuisance to the appropriate statutory body and to take responsibility for minor personal disputes with neighbours. If the self-help resolution does not work or is inappropriate, and the behaviour complained of is likely to be a breach of tenancy, it will look to intervene. This may include mediation, restorative justice, warning letters and acceptable behaviour contracts. If appropriate, it will consider and use more formal legal actions.
  3. Following the resident’s report of intimidation in May 2023, the landlord acted fairly by opening an ASB case and attempted to contact the resident on several occasions within a reasonable timescale to discuss the matter. The landlord evidenced that while it was unable to speak with the resident, it told her by text message to contact the police if she felt at risk of harm or in danger.
  4. In June 2023, the resident reported a further incident which took place on 23 May 2023. The landlord took proportionate steps by discussing the matter with each party, contacting the police for more information, and arranging a home visit with the resident. The police informed the landlord on 19 July 2023 that it would close the crime report due to insufficient evidence.
  5. Following this, the landlord evidenced that it communicated with the resident on several occasions and engaged its tenancy sustainment service to provide support to the resident. It also followed up with the neighbour. The Ombudsman has seen nothing to demonstrate that the resident reported or provided evidence of further incidents of ASB occurring between June 2023 and January 2024. As such, the Ombudsman finds it was appropriate for the landlord to inform the resident that it intended to close her case, and for her to contact it should she experience further issues.
  6. Within the stage 2 response, the landlord demonstrated empathy for the resident while clearly explaining its decision and the reasons for said decision. It also acted appropriately by signposting the resident to various support services.
  7. The Ombudsman does not underestimate the distress this situation would have caused to the resident. It is understandable that the incident from May 2023 had a significant impact on her. However, based on the evidence available, the landlord appropriately sought to manage the reported ASB in line with its policy. Overall, the landlord took reasonable actions which were proportionate and timely in the circumstances.

 

 

 

Determination

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