anyone aware if there is a housing association ombudsman??

thesaint

Have you asked the other concerned people if they would also write to the Housing Association? You could always do a generic letter and ask them to sign it and take it in yourself.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

No haven't recently asked asked other tenants. I don't really bother with many people in the area to be honest, I'm busy with college studies at the moment, so am struggling to find time to even re-contact the HA.

Franco, thanks for your reply. The HA probs hate me already lol, doubt involving the housing ombudsman could possibly irritate them any further. As I've said, I've been onto em about this since spring 06, so I suppose they are sick to death of it, but whilst I'm paying rent ect.. I expect they do something. After all I'm seeking prevention before damage to property occurs.

Buster_Danog

I didn't explain myself well. My point is when the ombudsman finds in favour of the council they will use it to tell you there is no burden on them to do anything about the situation. A stick to beat you with if you try and pursue the same issue after the ombudsman has issued his findings.

I complained to the ombudsman about a housing issue in London. He found in favour of the council, and they continually quoted his findings as a justification for their position in future correspondence.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

ah right Franco, I get what ya saying... so ombudsman last resort then?

I'll just keep banging away at HA for a while longer then, maybe contact the local anti-social behaviour unit.

tonyhamm

Its shocking to read your post as I have been in the same position FOR YEARS.

My disabled mum has been targetted in this way. I have even went to the Housing Assciocation. with a neighbour also affected. This was after they refused to act on our evidence alone. After a lot of time spend engaging with agencies end result was 'mediation', where somehow unbelievably they declared the area outside a play area for the kids of the tenants who have been abusing the area whatever our objections!

My mother cannot eat, sleep or function day to day as every minute is spent in fear of what objects are coming next in assaulting her property as its a daily occurance and thanks to the HA we are now a target with no rights at all.

I have done all the police logs, filling in the forms, contacted councillors, been to meetings with the council anti social behavour team with evidence and basically now lost my job because of it all because its affecting me with the stress and depression. Trying to battle these 'community enagagement managers' on £100k+ working for the HA to do something is just impossible they are unaccountable in any normal sense.

So yeah - trust them to resolve it, or give them a bit of leeway to do something to talk to the offenders and follow the note taking etc... and you will end up screwed.

I am now signing on for f* benefits in this f* discracefull depressive horrorshow of non-action and piles of endless meetings and paperwork which lead nowhere because of the affects it has had on my own life and the deteriorating envrioment. So don't end up like me - COMPLAIN INSTANTLY and AIM TO TAKE IT TO THE OMBUDSMAN.

Though it all - the council the police the HA I know only the fact that I have been working through the complaints procedure has resulted in any real pressure on them to do something.

So much so I have frequently been pressured to drop the complaint bvy the above 'managers'.

(1) Try to get a copy of thier policy on Anti social behavour - it will basically be a version of the above statement on respecting neighbours etc..Note where they have failed to respond.

(2) Follow the complaints procedure on the basis that they have failed in thier service delivery. You will expect compensation for the distress resulting and you should get it - or goto the Housing ombudsman.

The housing ombudsman should rule in your favour if there has been service failure - i.e. if you can demostrate that they have refused to act to resolve the problems by ignoring your accounts of distress regardless of the neighbours etc..

http://www.ihos.org.uk/downloads/common/HOS_Annual_Report_2007.pdf
There are a few judgements regarding anti socail behavour in there to give a flavour of what to expect and the compensation due.
You can see the case by case basis that the housing ombudsman awards compensation for service failure, by downloading its accounts. though the link here.

If you get a copy of thier published policy and you can point out how they have not followed it then there is no alternative for the ombudsmen but to rule in your favour. Do not forget that the Housing !!!. is under laws to respond in a certain way to complaints of anti social behavuor and harrisment (1996 housing act).

From day 1 The first thing is to use the complaints procedure.

NOTHING will happen without following this whatever promises you first get on the ground. Yes, you will dutifully end up following their advice to keep writing the incidents etc... and then be belittled about 'it's only football you can't stop that etc..' ONLY the COMPLAINT will get a response,

Remember the complaint is about the original service failings, focus on them AND on compensation for distress for each instance (following the Housing ombudsmans examples above for judgements upheld)

As the complaint snowballs, the response by the HA to you using thier complaints procedure will be pressure you with letters phonecalls etc.. to drop the compaint (by promising action or taking action like a visit and promising a whole new approach etc..) or they will pretend that you are happy now and they will drop it on your behalf without telling you!

The reason for this is the complaint is escalateing through the structure of the HA, and eventually will pull in the Chief Executive at some stage, and the oversight committee as one of its KPIs (key perfomance indicators).

These public bodies staff on fat salaries and thier procedures are largely unaccountable other than though these KPIs..

So all they want is to file the matter as resolved - but when all the pressure evaporates and you will left with nothing but same crappy staff dealing with the problem except if they are really vindictive, they will delibrately do nothing (we were told by the crap staff dealing with my disabled mums complaints of daily terror, in between their frequent holidays gaps where we were left with nothing, that they would not respond at all to any anti social behavour in the area, as it's someone elses problem now!) - basically because we had dared to complaint about them.

The only light is the fact the that the housing ombudsman might hold them to account for failings at the end of the compaint




If you drop it you will be on the treadmill of living in day to day hell dutifully logging incident numbers you call into the police on the local police station number getting the crime ref number, only to be then be belittled about how minor the distress is, how its so hard to prove etc.. they need more evidence etc.. dragging on for years of hell with your name known to the offenders ... there is no pressure on the managers to do anything or to give you compensation. DON''T DROP IT. CONTINUE WITH THE COMPLAINT.

The complaint is about specific instances were you felt you were let down - not about the situation in general and whether its ongoing. You may feel the complaint has been resolved through an offer of compensation and action now taken - thats upto you - but don't roll over for them. Don't end up like me - trusting them to act reasonably and ending up losing your job through the stress and non action.

patchwork_cat

The Housing Corporation are the quango governing body of housing associations-although I doubt that they could help in this situation.

tonyhamm

Yes, its the housing assciociation's own complaints procedure to instantly complain about - not the housing corporation.

They are the body who have legal obligations under varioius Housing Acts to make sure their tenants behave reasonabily and not harriss anyone. with powers to demote tenancies and evict, to apply to the county court for an Acceptable behavour contracts/ASBOs etc... and have to respond to complaints from members of the public with a set of policies drawn up and containing the Anti social behavour procedures to tackle these nightmares.

The reality though is that many agencies will have to be involved before they will issue a strainghtforward simple warning to the offenders. They will. tie you for years in logging incidents, roping in your neighbours with meetings or they will not act on your word alone a if you are some sort of lier if nobody else comes forward to speak about problems, give your names to the offenders even when you demand they don't so that you are scared stiff of recriminations and you become a target to countless youths, use mountains of paperwork and evidence gathering and endless community meetings, meetings to lambaste you for using cctv claiming you are invading thier priavcy and how it is illegal (Which it isn't), meetings 'to look at evidence' which result in more incident diaries handed out and your evidence belittled or not enough to act on, sometime during the process they will turn around supporting the offenders, accusing you of harrissing them with your complaints and objections, general belittlement of the daily horrors faced and the incidences collected, the lack of other neighbours coming forward as they withdraw due to reprisals etc...

The only chance you have is to use the compaints procedure and demand compensation at the earliest oppertunity - preferably the first few weeks of contacting the housing association.

tonyhamm

Oh by the way the classic one they trot out for the cheek to complaint about youths vollying footballs at your car and volleyed at your property 'is that there is nothing they can do as playing football in the street is not illegal'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4965136.stm

Well this is wrong, you know, in America such public officials would be instantly jailled if they let such behavour carry on, for encoraging jaywalking - a jailable offense espcially if kids are involved.
Thats because in America the courts and the community recognise that kids playing on a public highway, popping outbehind cars, jumping out leave the driver no time to respond, are treated seroiusly as potential fatalities and these idiots are putting them in danger.

In the UK its also illegal for kids to play in the street, under section 161 of the 1980 Highway Act. But like the public sector workers here know there is a unresolved legal nonsense regarding the child having 'a right of way' after jumping out from being hidden behind parked cars, so its got a weird situation in which a child can technically play in an totally empty street with no traffic, but other than that its illegal.

So what you get it the 'its not illegal to play football in the street' speech which is only correct in a totally empty street otherwise a fine is applicable under the highways act.

Mrs_Westrop

I am totally sympathetic. In my area of Birmingham I know many people who are tenants of Moseley and District HA and they suffer from antisocial behaviour (arson, assault, drugs dealing, &c) by a load of new tenants dumped by the local council on the HA. And the HA allows the bad tenants to drive out the good ones. If tenants complain it takes literally years to move the HA into action. A neighbourhood watch group just met with the HA today in fact, to ask the HA to stop putting antisocial tenants into properties, and we were told they would not refuse someone with a criminal record because that would be 'discrimination'!

Never mind discrimination against any of the poor recipients of abusive behaviour!

The world has gone mad. Our HA seems to give priority housing to the worst people whom the local council cannot house. I suggest you set up a pressure group to stop HAs from giving priority to the bad eggs. I shall join, if you invite me!

Good Luck.

missprint

I do feel for everyone trapped in a situation like this. We were reduced to living in an upper floor room at the back of the house with loud music playing to try and drown the noise. The front of the house was unusable in spite of double glazing and we had the blinds drawn all the time. The attitude of the local police was that it was better they played there than somewhere out on the streets. We tended to disagree with that one. They forced us out in the end. We live in blissful peace now but the slightest sound of a bouncing ball or a screaming kid anywhere at all has real physical effects on us, sweaty palms, increased heart rate and feeling sick.

I truly believe that this issue is not taken seriously enough by people in authority. We are told we have the right to 'quiet enjoyment' of our own home but this right seems to be totally subordinate to the rights of local children to cause extreme misery. I am not anti-kid, but if it were a group of adults out there causing the same amount of noise day after day more would be done to stop it. It seems that, like cats, children are seen as some sort of uncontrollable force that can use your property as they like and scream at the top of their lungs for as long as they like. My children were never allowed to disturb the neighbours, why should I suffer other people's foul-mouthed, uncontrolled offspring?

To the OP...there really is so little you can do it seems. We found that we were branded the trouble-makers by everyone we approached (that included the council, the police, the mediation service and the parents themselves). It was heart-breaking to lose our house but our health was more important. Would it be a great problem if you looked to move somewhere quieter? This thing can take over your life and wreck your peace of mind, you are unlikely to change things so why put yourself through the frustration? I wish you the best of luck and fully sympathise with you.