The Environmental Enforcement & Rapid Response team predominately deal with domestic properties to ensure residents are able to live in a safe and clean environment. We also ensure that household fly-tipping incidents are investigated and dealt with promptly. We deal with private dwellings only such as owner occupiers and private tenants / landlords.
What do we deal with?
Any of the below issues that relate to Sandwell MBC tenants shall be reported to the respective local Office.
- Waste on domestic properties and rubbish in gardens – such as black bags containing food waste, mattresses and soft furniture which could attract rats. Clean waste such as wood, metal or issues with overgrown gardens should be directed to Planning enforcement who may take action, email: planning@sandwell.gov.uk;
- Domestic noise nuisance – e.g. barking dogs, loud music, house alarms. We are not able to investigate anonymous complaints and we do not operate an out of hours service. We do not deal with noise issues associated with vehicles such as car alarms or noisy exhausts;
- Waste on private land - We have relevant powers to make landowners clear any waste which could attract and/or harbour vermin. The council will not remove waste from privately owned land, the responsibility falls upon the landowner to do this;
- Fly tipping with supporting evidence – We will examine fly-tipping incidents for evidence and take appropriate action to those who are responsible. We welcome evidence supplied to us by the public in the form of witness statements, photographs and CCTV footage. Please note, witnesses may be required to attend court and give evidence;
- Duty of Care Domestic properties – We ensure waste is processed by households responsibly and in line with legislation. Householders have a Duty of Care to ensure waste is given to the responsible contractor and a lack of compliance could result in a breach of Householders Duty of Care resulting in a £400 Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution.
- Filthy & verminous premises which includes hoarding issues – Such properties are frequently characterised by an accumulation of material that can make access to a premises difficult and that may present a physical or fire risk to the occupants or those of adjoining premises. We can insist that owner/occupiers remove all rubbish and thoroughly clean the property.
- Drainage enquiries on domestic properties - We oversee work associated with rectifying below ground blocked private drains.
How to report issues / Useful contacts:
Please report any issues via MySandwell Portal or by calling the Contact Centre on 0121 368 1177 Option 7.
For further information please contact the Environmental Enforcement & Rapid Response team on: Enviro_Enforcement@sandwell.gov.uk.
Useful Information
- For Broken guttering/rain water goods & above ground drainage please contact Private Sector Housing.
- For council owned drainage issues, in the first instance contact shall be made with the local Office and for drains serving more than one property, please contact Severn Trent.
- Guidance on domestic duty of care code of practice is available from the Environment Agency.