Complaint to council ...anything I can do?

[spookyboooo]

I posted a month ago
Not sure if anyone can remember
I have a tree that is resting on my roof that has grown over my fence from the multi storey buildings gardens (same council as mine )
I live in a upstairs flat
I reported in July and because downstairs had dumped rubbish around the side of building they wouldn't touch the tree (even tho it wasn't even in my garden"
I started moving rubbish and paid for council to collect it in a weeks time.
The noise is unbearable and keeping me awake and damaging the roof.
Anyway they've turned around and said they have no availability till December to cut the branches off my roof.
I can't sleep with the noise,now the wind is getting stronger it's even worse.
I made a complaint to council and they said nothing we can do.
The lack of sleep is really getting to me now
I can't come home and just relax
Anything else I can do here ?

*minute

Lodge a complaint with your landlord under their complaint policy and make it clear the noise is affecting your health. Ask for a decant until works done.

Lodge a complaint to the council under their complaints policy about how they have failed to take quick action and also failed to maintenance grounds sufficiently as they should have spotted this before it got to this stage.

Same council- different arms- it’ll get them both talking to each other. Continue complaints process and go to relevant ombudsman.

Get your local councillor involved too.

I have lodged a complaint and they told me it would make difference as they would still tell me it will be done whenever they do it.
I've contacted my local counsellor
Do you think that will make any difference at all?

@spookyboooo just to let you know - the spelling is 'councillor' in this scenario (ie someone who sits on the council). The person who reads your complaint may or may not care but in case they do it's one less obstacle.

It sounds like a really frustrating situation for you. I hope it gets resolved soon.

You could also take advice from Shelter in the meantime if it is impacting your sleep (which is a health issue).

Worth taking a recording of the noise too to evidence the disturbance.

Yes because if you end up escalating to an ombudsman then the landlord has to show they did everything possible to resolve the issue at an early stage.

imo if tree branches are impacting on an tenants ability to have quiet enjoyment of their property then that’s a serious breach. They should be looking at employing an external contractor to complete the works if they don’t have capacity internally to undertake it.

Really bad wind here tonight
Not going to get a wink of sleep
Noise is unbearable-constant banging and scraping
Honestly so upset with it all
All I want to do is go to sleep and relax

With all due respect, do you think that your anxiety about the potential of the noise is winding you up so as soon as you hear noise, you immediately feel stressed?

Have you thought about trying some background noise to fall asleep to in the short term? I often use an ocean waves type noise on a loop for about 40 minutes and it helps cover outside noise and relaxes you a bit.

So sorry for you this sounds awful.

Find an odd job man and shove him £50...doesn't need to be a proper tree surgeon surely?

I am sorry you are going through all this stress and anxiety.

Please don’t get just anyone to attempt to cut back any branches (for ‘£50’) from the overhanging tree as this can be dangerous (sudden lightening of the load can cause remaining branches to whip back). By all means ask a qualified Tree Surgeon to have a look, but a reputable one will wish to seek permission from the owner of the tree and landowner for permission to carry out necessary work. Whatever they advise will be your ammunition.

Your local Citizens Advice can help you, please give them a ring. Find them here https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/nearby/

They will often have local knowledge and, more importantly,know what your HA is like. CA collate information on local issues and are very effective campaigners.

Good luck.

Of course it does, don’t be ridiculous. How do you think they’re going to get up to the top branches?

@AnxiousPangolin no it's really really loud
I wish I could attach a clip here to understand
This isn't just a branch this is a lot of the tree
Hitting and constantly bashing the roof -and me being the upstairs flat hears it all
Scraping and banging every time the wind blows
It's honestly horrific

Last night I used rain sounds
I needed it on volume 22 just so it masked it a little bit
Still was really loud

Do you have a picture OP?

I do @PurpleRadish ignore the black scribble just hiding peoples windows

Message from them this morning Saying they have 28 working days to investigate my complaint and they will be in touch on or before 28th October
There's nothing to investigate I just want someone to cut the tree off my roof which shouldn't be there grrrrr
I'm so frustrated honestly

Are you sure that’s your landlord? Because the housing ombudsman complaint handling code says complaints should be issued a response within stage 1 within 10 working days.

Like I said before complain to your landlord AND the grounds maintenance at the council.

Go via your MP.

Councils put MP enquiries to the top of their pile.

A stage 1 response can be to say it will be up to 28 days to investigate. The response needs to be within 10 days, not necessarily the resolution.
(housing complaints are my day job)

OP you need to provide evidence of the noise severity. Contact environmental health if you have to. In the meantime follow the complaints process and escalate to the Housing Ombudsman.
No HA wants an Ombudsman complaint

The code of conduct is here.

https://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Complaint-Handling-Code-Published-March-2022-1-1.pdf

stage 1 should be responded to within 10 working days and if necessary can be extended to 20 days. However this should be used routinely not to response outside the 10 days. . However early resolution is encouraged and landlords should aim to response within the 10 days.

The HA has a number of determinations on “trees” if you care to search past decisions with trees as a keyword too.

Tbh Honest they've been pretty rude to me
The housing officer has said she won't be replying and il have to wait for the complaints team
The complaints team have said they won't respond to anything till they've investigated
Thankfully last night no wind so no noise and got a full nights sleep -which doesn't half help