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Sovereign Network Group (202338588)

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REPORT

COMPLAINT 202338588

Sovereign Network Group

16 April 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 the resident’s request for trees to be cut back.

Background

  1. The resident is an assured tenant of the landlord. The property is a 1-bedroom bungalow.
  2. On 24 December 2021 a surveyor inspected the trees for safety on behalf of the landlord and produced a report. They found no significant defects and made no recommendations for action.
  3. In February 2023 the resident reported dissatisfaction with landlord’s approach to the trees as she did not agree with its decision not to trim them. The resident said she wanted the trees trimmed as they were blocking natural light to the property.
  4. The resident lodged a complaint with the landlord on 17 October 2023.
  5. On 18 October 2023 the landlord issued its stage 1 complaint response saying it did not uphold the complaint. This was because an inspection took place on 1 September 2023 where the resident’s concerns were addressed by the estates team. The estates team explained they inspected the trees every 3 years and identified no concerns at the last inspection. They added the next inspection would be in December 2024.
  6. The resident remained unhappy with the landlord’s response and escalated her complaint on 20 October 2023. The resident said she wanted the trees cut down.
  7. On 10 November 2023, the landlord replied to the resident at stage 2 of its internal complaints process reiterating its view that there were no concerns with the trees impacting the resident’s property, so there was no need to trim them. It said it formed this view in discussions with its operations manager and technical surveyor.
  8. When the resident approached us, she said as an outcome she wanted the trees to be trimmed down so she can have sunlight to her property.

Assessment and findings

The landlord’s handling of the resident’s request for trees to be cut back

  1. In accordance with its tree management policy, the landlord is required to ensure the trees in the communal spaces are managed and monitored so they are healthy as to not impact on the safety of members of the public and property.
  2. The policy also says it will carry out tree surveys every 3 years and sooner if recommended by the previous surveyor. It further provides that a tree will not be removed unless there are safety reasons for doing so. It adds works will not be carried out where the benefit to an individual is outweighed by the detriment to the wider community.
  3. In its complaint responses the landlord explained the inspection process it undertook to check the trees and supplied evidence of its actions.
  4. We have seen evidence that the landlord’s tree surveyor inspected the trees in 2021. The landlord said the subsequent inspection was due in December 2024. This was appropriate because there were no safety issues identified at the 2021 inspection. This was in line with its tree maintenance policy.
  5. We have also seen evidence that the tree surveyor inspected again in September 2023. They found that the trees were located 5-6 metres from the resident’s property in a communal park and that there were no signs of structural damage to the property due to the trees. It was reasonable for the landlord to rely on the expertise of the tree surveyor regarding the condition of the trees. It appears the landlord undertook this inspection in response to the concerns raised by the complaint, where it was not obliged to under its policy. That was good customer service and demonstrated its commitment to trying to resolve matters for the resident.
  6. The landlord took appropriate action in inspecting the trees and consulting with its relevant teams to ensure the trees were in a good condition. After the 2023 inspection the landlord consulted with the estates team to confirm the trees underwent 3 yearly inspections and that the inspection notes supported this. Additionally, it discussed the tree safety aspect with the operations manager and technical surveyor who confirmed there was no evidence of the trees impacting the resident’s property. These actions were reasonable and supported by evidence. This meant that the landlord complied with its obligation under the tree management policy to ensure that people and property were safe from trees or parts of trees on its communal land.
  7. The landlord took appropriate actions to ensure the trees were safe and investigated the situation to ensure the appropriate steps had taken place to check the trees in accordance with its policy. Therefore there was no failure in the landlord’s handling of the resident’s reports that the trees needed to be cut back.

Determination

  1. In accordance with paragraph 52 of the Scheme, there was no maladministration by the landlord in its handling of the resident’s request for trees to be cut back.