London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham · Case 202404505 · 10 March 2026
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham — case 202404505
The complaint about the landlord's response to the notice to quit was found to be outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction because legal proceedings were issued at court and the matters at court are substantially the same as the complaint, so the Ombudsman had no power to investigate.
Findings by complaint head
-
Response to notice to quit
Outside jurisdictionThe complaint is outside the Ombudsman's jurisdiction because legal proceedings were issued at court and the matters at court are substantially the same as the complaint, including the landlord's communication and decision to accept the notice to quit.
The full determination
Decision Case ID 202404505 Decision type Jurisdiction Landlord London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Landlord type Local Authority Occupancy Secure Tenancy Date 10 March 2026 Background The resident had a joint tenancy with his ex-partner who sent the landlord a notice to end the tenancy (notice to quit) on 19 February 2024 which it accepted. Following this the landlord obtained a court order to recover possession of the property (possession order) which the resident appealed.
The resident complained about the landlord’s response to the notice to quit including its communication and decision to accept the notice. What the complaint is about The complaint is about the landlord’s response to the notice to quit. Our decision (determination) We have found the complaint is outside our jurisdiction. As a result, we have not investigated it. Reasons 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 (the Scheme).
The Scheme says we cannot consider complaints which are subject to legal proceedings or where matters at court are connected so closely to the complaint, they cannot be separated. In this case, we can see legal proceedings were issued at court on 21 June 2024. This resulted in the court making a possession order dated 15 November 2024. The resident successfully got the court’s permission to appeal this in ongoing legal proceedings. The matters at court, referred to in the resident’s grounds of appeal, relate to the landlord’s response to the notice to quit.
This includes its communication with the resident and its decision to accept the notice to quit. As these are substantially the same as the complaint the resident referred to us, we have no power to investigate the complaint.
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.