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Poplar Housing And Regeneration Community Association Limited (202220069)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202220069

Poplar Housing And Regeneration Community Association Limited

21 March 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:
    1. The resident’s eviction.
    2. The removal of the resident’s belongings.

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, we have determined that both parts of the complaint, as set out above, are not within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Summary of events

  1. The landlord began legal proceedings to evict the resident due to him being in rent arrears. Both the resident and landlord went to the court hearing on 4 November 2022, in which the court ordered the resident to give up his tenancy by 2 December.
  2. The resident contacted the service on 30 November 2022. We advised the resident that his case may be out of our jurisdiction but that he could consider making a complaint to his landlord. It is not apparent if he did so.
  3. The evidence shows that in February 2023 the landlord wrote to the resident to say it had instructed bailiffs to evict him from his property on 20 March 2023. The letter advised the resident that “Any belongings left in the property may be disposed of or sold to off-set money you owe.”
  4. On 20 March 2023 bailiffs changed the locks on the property. On the same day, the landlord said it left a notice on the door advising the resident to contact it within 7 days to make arrangements to collect his belongings. It took photographs of what the resident had left in the property.
  5. In September 2023 the resident contacted us again to say that he wanted to complain about the landlord evicting him and disposing of his belongings. We wrote to the landlord asking it to respond to the resident’s complaint.
  6. The landlord wrote to the resident on 18 October 2023. It said that it would not consider the complaint as per its policy because the issue had already been decided by the courts. The resident asked us investigate his complaint. He said that he wanted to be reimbursed for his belongings.      
  7. On 1 May 2024 we wrote to the resident to say that we may not be able to investigate the complaint because it may be out of our jurisdiction. However, we asked the landlord for further evidence so that we could decide whether this was the case.

Reasons

  1. Paragraph 41.c. of the Housing Ombudsman Scheme states the Ombudsman cannot consider complaints which concern matters that are the subject of court proceedings or were the subject of court proceedings where judgement on the merits was given.
  2. The evidence provided by the landlord and resident shows the courts made an order to evict the resident in November 2022. As this matter has already been decided by the court we will not consider the resident’s complaint about the landlord’s handling of it, in line with paragraph 41.c.
  3. Paragraph 42.f. of the Scheme sets out that: The Ombudsman may not consider complaints which, concern matters where it is quicker, fairer, more reasonable, or more effective to seek a remedy through the courts, other tribunal or procedure.
  4. The second part of the resident’s complaint is about his concerns that the landlord disposed of his goods following the eviction. He said he wanted the landlord to reimburse him for them. We will not consider this complaint because while it is separate from the court judgement itself, it was a consequence of it, and to consider the issue would require an assessment of liability for the landlord. In line with paragraph 42.f, that is more appropriate for the courts.