A tenant feels angry that he ended up having to take his landlord to the ombudsman because of their poor handling of anti-social behaviour caused by a neighbour.
Ashley Bridle decided to report Elim Housing to the Housing Ombudsman Service after feeling the housing association was not taking seriously the problems he has been facing for the past six years. The ombudsman has now determined that Elim Housing is responsible for service failure in the way it handled Mr Bridle's reports of anti-social behaviour caused by a neighbour.
Elim Housing has apologised for the service failures identified and said it took the ombudsman's findings very seriously. It said it has formally confirmed its commitment to fulfil each of the recommendations set out in the determination report and that it will use the findings from the ombudsman report as an opportunity to learn and improve.
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Mr Bridle said that, every time something happened, he reported it, but that he felt Elim Housing only gave him excuses.
"Their response has not been good enough, they have not taken it seriously," said the 38-year-old. "Elim did not protect or care for me. They never listened so that is why I felt I had no option but to go to the Ombudsman last year."
The ombudsman's report found that Elim fairly considered the allegations reported and that there was nothing to suggest there was enough evidence to take legal action against the neighbour, referred to as "Ms X" in the report. It said the landlord considered options such as an acceptable behaviour contract or mediation, which was appropriate.
The report states: "However, the landlord did not fully and fairly try to resolve the issues with parking during the complaint procedure or consider whether the space had been for the resident’s sole use from the start of the tenancy and whether allowing Ms X to use it was otherwise removing a benefit the resident always had.
"Secondly, the landlord’s explanations around the Community Protection Notice were not entirely accurate and could lead the resident to believe he was being coerced into signing the Acceptable Behaviour Contract. This was a heavy-handed approach – given it was clear the resident was distressed by the ongoing anti-social behaviour."
Mr Bridle - who has autism, depression and anxiety - said that what has happened over the past few years has impacted his health, making his stress and anxiety levels worse. He said that he became worried about leaving the house and that, for example, he would not use his clothes line for fear of clothes being stolen.
"I have been feeling stressed at home and I would say that at times I could not relax at home because of the problems I was having with the neighbour," he continued. "Sleeping has also been a bit of an issue as things kept playing on my mind. I have tried telling Elim all this but they do not care."
The Severn Beach resident said that, since the ombudsman's decision, the attitude and tone of the housing association towards him has changed, saying it has been much nicer to him since.
"I feel angry and let down by Elim, I am still stressed out now," he said. "The problems with the neighbour are still ongoing, but I am hoping they will take it more seriously now in light of the report. We just have to wait and see what happens next."
The Ombudsman ordered Elim to pay Mr Bridle £200 compensation and to conduct a full case review of the anti-social behaviour, among others.
What Elim Housing said
A spokeswoman for Elim Housing said: “We have taken the findings from the Housing Ombudsman very seriously, and we are sorry for service failures that have been identified in the way we handled our resident’s reports of anti-social behaviour.
"Following receipt of the ombudsman determination we took immediate action to pay Mr Bridle the £200 compensation required, and we have formally confirmed our commitment to fulfil each of the recommendations set out in the determination report. This includes a full review of this anti-social behaviour case, taking into consideration all activity up to the date of Mr Bridle’s complaint in May 2021 through to the current date.
"We are also in the process of producing new fact sheets on Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and mediation to share with our customers. We will be taking this report to our board in order so that they have oversight of these issues.
"We will use the findings from the ombudsman report as an opportunity to learn and improve. Although the ombudsman determined that Elim fairly considered the allegations reported and were correct not to take legal action in this instance, we understand how we could have improved our management of this sensitive case.
"Along with several partner organisations, Elim will continue to work with the residents to address ongoing concerns around anti-social behaviour in the local area.”
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