London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham · Case 202321886 · 13 February 2026
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham — case 202321886
The resident complained about the landlord's handling of reports of noise nuisance from a neighbour. The Ombudsman found the complaint outside its jurisdiction because the council's Environmental Protection Service was not acting as the landlord under a tenancy, so it could not investigate; it recommended the landlord's housing service contact the resident to discuss her allegations.
Orders and recommendations
- Take specific action
The landlord should arrange for its housing service to contact the resident to discuss her allegations of continuing noise nuisance and any interventions that may be appropriate.
Findings by complaint head
Summarised automatically from the decision below. The Ombudsman's decision text is the authoritative record.
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Handling of reports of noise nuisance
Outside jurisdictionThe council's Environmental Protection Service does not form part of its housing management function, so the council was not acting as landlord under a licence, lease or social housing tenancy; the Ombudsman therefore has no power to investigate the handling of noise nuisance reports. The resident may be able to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
The full determination
Decision Case ID 202321886 Decision type Jurisdiction Landlord London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Landlord type Local Authority / ALMO or TMO Occupancy Secure Tenancy Date 13 February 2026 Background The resident lives in a flat on the ground floor of a block. In August 2023 she told the landlord that her neighbour was playing loud music through the day and night. The landlord’s Environmental Protection Service (acting on behalf of the local authority) investigated and gave the resident advice on reporting incidents.
The resident was unhappy with its response and complained. What the complaint is about The complaint is about the landlord’s handling of reports of noise nuisance. Jurisdictional decision We found the landlord’s handling of reports of noise nuisance is outside of our jurisdiction. Reasons why We are not free to investigate all complaints referred to us. What we can and cannot consider is set out in the Housing Ombudsman Scheme and is called our jurisdiction. Under our scheme, we can only investigate complaints about councils where they are acting as the landlord under a licence, lease, or a social housing tenancy.
In this case, the council was not acting in this capacity because its Environmental Protection Service does not form part of its housing management function. As such, we have no power to investigate the complaint about its handling of reports of noise nuisance. The resident may instead be able to complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Recommendations Our recommendations are not binding, and a landlord may decide not to follow them. Our recommendations The resident told us that the noise nuisance has continued.
The landlord should arrange for its housing service to contact the resident to discuss her allegations and any interventions that may be appropriate.
This is a structured summary of a published determination. The official decision is the authoritative record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.