Decision Report 201305642

Summary

Mr C complained that, after he ended his tenancy, the council unreasonably invoiced him for works they carried out to his council house. He explained that while he was still a tenant he had tried to contact the council, in writing and by phone, asking for permission to make alterations and improvements to his home. As he did not hear from them to the contrary, he had gone ahead with the work.

The council explained that they had no record of Mr C's attempts to contact them. They said that they had to carry out substantial repairs and alterations to return the house to a condition where they could re-let it, and they provided us with details of all the work that was done. They also explained that the tenancy agreement specified that if works were carried out without permission, the council were entitled to reclaim (from the tenant who carried them out) the cost of returning the property to an acceptable letting standard.

We reviewed the information from both Mr C and the council, and could find no evidence to show that he had tried to get permission. As the council clearly did not give their permission, and as in those circumstances the tenancy agreement entitled them to recover the costs, we did not uphold Mr C's complaint.