Public Health and Statutory Nuisance

Who is responsible?

The council has a legal duty to ensure that privately rented homes are fit to live in. We can also help if the condition of a neighbouring property is affecting your home. If you are council tenant please contact your local area housing office, as they are responsible for the repair and maintenance of your home.

The private sector housing (environmental health) team will get involved in the following public health and statutory nuisance issues, if these relate to privately owned or privately rented homes.

• Blocked drains, private sewers.
• Defective sanitary conveniences.
• Cleansing of filthy or verminous premises.
• Premises in such a state as to prejudicial to health or a nuisance.

What action will be taken?

We will investigate the complaint to determine whether there are any contraventions of legislation and whether the circumstances exist that require the council to take action.

We regard enforcement as encompassing all the actions we may take to achieve compliance with legal requirements; this may be formal or informal. We will take the appropriate level of enforcement action and will seek to do so in a firm but fair, open, consistent and helpful way, in line with the principles of good enforcement outlined in our enforcement policy.

What should I do?

If you want to report a public health or statutory nuisance issue or find out more about what could be done, please contact us.