The Landlord granted the Complainant’s neighbour permission to make improvements to her driveway. The Complainant complained that the effect of the improvements were for a pillar to have been erected in the Complainant’s garden.

The Complainant complained to the Housing Ombudsman Service in respect of the manner in which her Landlord (a) dealt with her complaints of anti-social behaviour, (b) dealt with her request for a transfer from the property, and (c) handled her complaints in respect of the foregoing.

The Complainant complained to the Housing Service Ombudsman about the manner in which her Landlord had dealt with her complaints of anti-social behaviour by a neighbour.

The property is a ground floor flat in a block of four owned by the Landlord. The Complainant is an assured tenant of the Landlord. The Complainant occupies one of the flats in a block. She complains that the Landlord failed to adequately deal with allegations of neighbour nuisance caused by the occupant of the flat above the Complainant's and failed to secure a transfer out of the area for the Complainant.

The Complainant and her neighbour Mrs Z were both tenants of the same Landlord. Between 2002 and mid 2004 Mrs Z complained to the Landlord of anti-social behaviour by the Complainant and her family. In June 2004 the Complainant was interviewed about these allegations and denied engaging in anti-social behaviour and made a formal complaint about the behaviour of Mrs Z. By July 2004 internal correspondence indicated that the Landlord had concluded that there was no merit in Mrs Z complaints.

The Complainant was involved in a long running dispute with his neighbour. Both he and his neighbour made complaints of anti-social behaviour to the Landlord. The Landlord did not have any policies or procedures in place for dealing with allegations of anti-social behaviour, despite this being good practice since the enactment of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and being a regulatory requirement pursuant to the Housing Corporation’s regulatory circular of August 2004 and a legal requirement since the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 which placed a requirement on social landlords to prepare and publish a statement of policies and procedures in relation to anti-social behaviour etc by 30 December 2004.

The Complainant lived in a sheltered accommodation scheme provided by her Landlord. In January 2005 the Complainant made a complaint to the Landlord of anti-social behaviour against a couple residing in the scheme. The Landlord replied to that complainant expressing concern at the situation, explaining that her concerns had been raised with the couple concerned, confirming no other residents had made complaints about the couple and offering alternative accommodation to the Complainant as well as the chance to meet senior officers of the Landlord to discuss her complaint further.