London Borough of Lambeth (14 012 297)

Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 14 Sep 2015

Summary

Complaint from a woman about the continuing delay by the council in completing the sale to her of her home, and that it failed to keep her informed about how the sale was progressing.

The complaint

Complaint from a woman about the continuing delay by the council in completing the sale to her of her home, and that it failed to keep her informed about how the sale was progressing.

Finding

The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault causing injustice.

Recommendations

We recommend that the council:

  • apologise to the woman;
  • pay the woman £500 to acknowledge the uncertainty, frustration, distress and inconvenience she was caused; and
  • decide and respond to the woman's request to refund her legal costs.

The council has agreed to carry out these recommendations.

We also recommend that the council should, within one month of this decision, nominate a senior officer to act as a point of contact for the woman and give her quarterly progress reports until it completes the outstanding works to her flat. If the nominated officer leaves the council it should immediately appoint a replacement and notify the woman.

The council should confirm to us that it has complied with our recommendations as soon as possible and, at the latest, within three months of the decision.

Ombudsman satisfied with council's response: 23 December 2015

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