Applications are open to join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel – find out more Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel.

Cottsway Housing Association Limited (202315431)

Back to Top

REPORT

COMPLAINT 202315431

Cottsway Housing Association Limited

11 June 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 response to the resident’s dissatisfaction about evidence it relied on in a court case against him.

Determination

  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, we have determined that the complaint, as set out above, is not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of Events

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord which is a housing association. The tenancy commenced on 8 January 2018. The landlord’s records show that the resident has post-traumatic stress disorder and bowel cancer.
  2. On 30 March 2023 the landlord was granted an injunction order against the resident.
  3. On 17 July 2023 the resident emailed the landlord to confirm that he disputed the evidence on which it had relied during the court proceedings. He advised that he wished to make a formal complaint.
  4. Following our intervention the landlord provided its first and final response on 8 February 2024. It advised that the complaint sat outside its Complaints Policy because legal proceedings had started. It recommended that the resident seek legal advice if he wished to oppose the injunction. It also signposted the resident to contact us if he was dissatisfied with its response.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 41.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states that the “Ombudsman cannot consider complaints which, in the Ombudsman’s opinion concern matters that are the subject of court proceedings or were the subject of court proceedings where judgement on the merits was given.”
  2. Paragraph 41.c. of the Scheme outlined above, is a mandatory ground for accepting complaints within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The resident had the opportunity to dispute the landlord’s evidence as part of the court proceedings during which he had legal representation. The court considered the evidence when it made its judgement. The complaint, as defined above, is therefore not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.