All Case Studies

Garden Fence (March 2025)

Summary

The complaint is about our handling of the resident’s concerns regarding the garden fence.

The resident moved into the property in October 2021 after we completed void work.

The resident raised concerns about the garden being overgrown around the time of moving in. We responded in October 2021, explaining that gardens were usually cleared before re-letting and that we would ask contractors to return to address it.

In February 2023, the resident’s neighbour contacted us, stating that the resident had removed the fence without permission and had put it back incorrectly encroaching on her space.

We inspected both properties in May 2023. We spoke with the resident in June 2023 and confirmed that the fence would need to be moved to its original position. Legal advice was sought, and a solicitor’s letter in July 2023 informed the resident that the fence needed to be moved as it did not align with the Title Plan.

The resident raised a formal complaint in July 2023. We partially upheld the complaint acknowledging that the garden was not up to standard when the resident moved in and offering £250 in compensation but stated that the resident had to put the fence back to original place.

The resident escalated the complaint, requesting full compensation and clarification on the fence position. We issued a stage 2 response in September 2023, reiterating our £250 offer as compensation for condition or garden and communication. However we said we would not reimburse costs for the garden repairs or the fence repositioning.

The Ombudsman found that we had acted reasonably by requesting the resident move the fence, and offering additional time for him to do so. They found that we took reasonable steps to address the situation once the issue was raised and appropriately handled the complaint.

Determination

1. There was no maladministration in relation to our handling of the resident’s garden fence concerns.