How can I effectively complain about London Council

cjm46

I've been badly let down by my council and could do with some ideas on what next as my council has been useless and just drags its heals.

The problem in a nutshell:

Newish council tenant next door with antisocial behaviour - fly tipping on pavement outside, worsening use of front garden as rubbish dump (chairs, sofas, broken furniture, black bin bags etc) other behaviour which, taken together, add to antisocial behaviour. Complained to Council's housing management company ("management") . They 'spoke' to tenant who made excuses. The tenant seemed contrite (I was told) and said said they'd sort it out - it just got worse. The tenant  likely has a personal drug problem and psychological issues and they have weird characters visiting day and in the middle of the night who knock on the door and are gone within minutes - perhaps back into a car waiting in the middle of the road. You get the picture. Things have gone from bad to worse. I'm keeping a photographic record of the rubbish problem and copied in head of dept for 'management' but the first line helpers for 'management' have been dozy and ineffective.

Besides that, the council have been negligent IMO in managing and maintaining the property - an old tree shed a large branch dangerously over a year ago and they have done nothing (despite my communication efforts) and I had a serious ingress of water from the council property shorting my power and which could have endangered life. There's been an ongoing mould problem caused by the council property (confirmed by my own survey feedback). The council were substandard in doing anything to sort this and clearly used people with limited skills to diagnose and resolve the problem. 

So there you have it 1. An antisocial tenant who won't/can't correct their behavour 2. An incompetent/negligent council that has cost me money and exposes my household to ongoing risk. Both are disruptive, can affect the value of my property (I own) and pose a danger to health and well being. It is not an exaggeration to say that the old tree could have killed someone; the water ingress could have caused a fire and killed or done massive damage (it still cost several thousand to put right) and the mould issue could seriously shorten life. 

I will check out the ombudsman route - but I'm keen to gather information so I can sort my strategy - using perhaps legal process, governmental recourse or media/internet exposure. I'm not in a position to throw money at the problem so will avoid legal process unless I do it myself. I'm even wondering about withholding council tax to force the issue. Any help please? 

cattie

Withold your council tax & all you'll end up with is a court summons.

GDB2222

Have you made a formal complaint yet?

Have you involved your local councillor?

Gavin83

You can’t stop your neighbour putting stuff in their front garden as long as it doesn’t constitute a health hazard which it doesn’t sound like this does. I’m not surprised the council haven’t had much luck here. What else are they doing that you’d consider antisocial behaviour? Yes having a neighbour with a messy garden is likely to devalue your property but that’s actually of no concern to your neighbour or council. Are you looking to sell soon?

You also can’t expect the council to act on ‘what ifs’. However if their lack of maintenance is damaging your property they are liable for that, so I’d push this point and drop the rest as otherwise it’ll just cloud the real issues the council can and should actually deal with.

Rosa_Damascena

Antisocial behaviour is pervasive, unless it's illegal there will be little that can be done.