Mr A complained that his landlord Coastal Housing Group Ltd (“the Association”) had not acted and/or failed to keep him informed about his complaints of Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) was carried out by his neighbour, also an Association tenant. This included Mr A having been assaulted so he wanted the Association to evict his neighbour. Mr A also complained that he had requested a transfer and felt that the Association has wrongly denied him a management transfer under its Lettings Policy (“the Policy”).
The Ombudsman’s powers are limited in housing matters, in that he cannot direct a landlord to evict someone and neither can he direct that someone be transferred immediately. Having considered the complaint, it became clear that the Association was still actively investigating the ASB and moving to take legal action. It said Mr A did not meet the criteria for a management transfer under the Policy (a discretionary decision), however, the Ombudsman felt the reasons for that had not been properly explained to Mr A. Therefore, as an alternative to investigation, the Association agreed to undertake the following in settlement of the complaint (within 1 month):
(a)Apologise in writing to Mr A for the communication failure and to provide him with a meaningful update on the ASB investigation.
(b)To provide him with further updates on a monthly basis so long as the matter remains ongoing.
(c)To provide Mr A with a meaningful written explanation as to why you have decided he does not meet the threshold for a management transfer.