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Andrew Waller

How to complain

Updated: Sep 27

University contact details and how to identify landlords and agents.


University Complaints Addresses

If you believe the noise you're hearing is caused by students, complain to their university, citing the property address. If you're unsure whether they're students or which university they are with, email both universities, asking them to check if they have students registered at this address and, if so, to take appropriate action.


University of Bristol

Community Liaison Officer


University of the West of England

Community Liaison Manager

 

Making a Complaint to University of Bristol

Revised, September 2024 In the past, it's been sufficient to send a simple email to the address above. That's still possible but the university has now introduced a complaints form (see below) as part of new procedures introduced in 2024. Although the community-liaison officer continues to give out guidance to students facing a first complaint, on a second complaint (or a first offence that's particularly serious) there is a more formal process. The CLO compiles an investigation report and forwards it to an independent Decision Maker within the university for adjudication. If the DM finds the case proved, he or she can impose any of a list of sanctions, from "no further action" to a requirement to complete an Acceptable Behaviour Agreement, or fines of up to £250 per student.


The full implications of this new approach are still being assessed by residents' groups. Here are some aspects of the process that work differently than they did in the past:

  •  Revised, September 2024 UoB's complaints page (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/accommodation/community/complaints.html) introduces a standard complaints form — download it from the UoB page to ensure you have the most recent version. It doesn't seem to be mandatory to use this form, but you might find it helpful to do so. It serves as a checklist of essential facts. You don't need to fill in every item—just the ones relevant to your case. Give a reasonably full account of the event itself.

  • There have been indications that future investigations may be more thorough as regards obtaining independent evidence of the alleged events. See Collecting evidence.

  •  Revised, September 2024 In the past, the CLO has withheld the identity of complainants from students (though in some cases, they can probably easily guess who complained). This may now change in some circumstances — read the section "What happens to your details" in the complaints form referred to above. The crucial bit says:


    "Usually, if you make a complaint, your name is protected and not shared with students. However, it may become necessary to provide your name to a student. This would be part of the later stage of the formal disciplinary process. In this situation, you will be asked for consent before we share this information." As of September 2024, resident-group representatives are still discussing this with the university, a year after it was first mooted. There's concern some complainants may withdraw, fearing—rightly or wrongly—that they could face retaliation from students or those close to them (parents?). UoB has, however, clarified in the wording quoted above that it will seek specific consent from complainants if and when this data transfer is thought necessary. So, my current advice is that you should submit a complaint as normal. The question of your continued anonymity might never be challenged; if it is, you can make a decision at that point. If you withdraw and yours is the only evidence, the case might be dropped. On the other hand, there might be other evidence—especially, for example, if you called Operation Beech and they attended. And in some cases, perhaps if you spoke to students during the event and identified yourself, the anonymity question will presumably not trouble you, so you may be happy to consent. I'd be interested to hear first-hand accounts of how this plays out in practice: Andrew Waller, thenoisepages@gmail.com.)

 

How to Get Landlord or Agent Details for an HMO

 Revised, September 2024 Most students live in HMOs (houses in multiple occupation), which can be houses or flats. These properties are subject to licensing by the council and details are required by law to be made available in a public register. Bristol's version of this is the interactive Pinpoint map. Until a few months ago, this was the easiest way to identify the landlord and the agent (if there is one) for a property you are interested in. Unfortunately, that data has now been removed, though it can still be obtained by other means (see below).


To use the map:

  1. Click https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/pinpoint/.

  2. Click the "+" sign next to "Housing and property" on the left hand side.

  3. In the list that opens, tick the left-hand box against "Property Licence - Mandatory HMO" and "Property Licence - Additional HMO". These are different types of HMO: "Mandatory" HMOs (green icons) house five or more unrelated people sharing facilities. "Additional" HMOs (blue) house 3 or four people. Some residential properties may contain two or more HMOs.

  4. Your map will now be densely populated with green and blue icons. Zoom in to street level to see more detail.

  5. Click an HMO icon to see when the property was licensed, and for how many people. This panel previously also included the name and address of the landlord and similar information for the managing agents, if any. ​That data has now been removed.


Obtaining landlord and agent details

Now this data has been removed from Pinpoint, we are forced to return to the "old" way of getting the information, which is to email the Private Housing Service at BCC: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/property-licences/register-of-licensed-properties and ask them for full details of the landlord and agents of the property/ies you're interested in. (Cite the individual house numbers.) You can ask for data for up to three properties at a time. (Again, I'd be interested to hear first-hand accounts of how this plays out in practice, particularly if there are long waits for a reply: Andrew Waller, thenoisepages@gmail.com.)


Contacting landlords and agents.

The information supplied by PHS will contain only postal addresses, so to contact a landlord you will have to write a letter and mail it. However, if the landlord is a company, an internet search may yield an email address. Or you may be able to find an email address for the managing agent (if there is an agent—not all landlords have one). You could email a letter to the agents and ask them to forward it to the landlord. Or simply deal with the agents themselves. The Noise Pages recommends that, either way, you insist that the landlord be made aware of your letter. It's the licence holder—usually the landlord—who bears the legal obligations set out in the HMO licence. (See Resources for more HMO information.)


Note: If you live next to an HMO, the landlord or agents are required by their licensing conditions to give you their contact details—and should already have done so.

 

Reviewed, September 2024






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