Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about accounting related to a residential leasehold. The law prevents us investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of accounts related to a property with a residential long leasehold. Mr X’s late mother, Mrs X, was the leaseholder. The Council’s predecessor authority was the freeholder, then North Northamptonshire Council took over the freehold when it replaced the predecessor authority.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of housing let on a long lease by a council that is a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5B, schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council is a registered provider of social housing, as was its predecessor council. Mr X is an executor of his late mother’s estate. He says accounting problems at the Council with leasehold charges are preventing him completing dealing with the estate.
6. I appreciate the complaint is not about the lease itself, but about accounting matters. However, the legal restriction in paragraph 2 prevents us investigating any action by or on behalf of the Council ‘in connection with’ the management of residential long leasehold matters. The handling of accounts related to the leasehold is action ‘in connection with’ the management of such matters. So the law prevents us considering the complaint.
7. Mr X reports the Council has not replied to his complaint about the matter. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
8. It would be disproportionate for us to try to investigate the Council’s complaint-handling where we cannot make findings on the substantive matter that resulted in the complaint. Nevertheless, I shall draw the Council’s attention to the alleged failure to deal with the complaint. Beyond that, I shall not take further action.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us investigating the Council’s actions in connection with the leasehold. In that context, it would be disproportionate to investigate the Council’s complaint-handling in isolation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman