Summary: We have ended our investigation into Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s actions relating to adapting a property for her son, Mr Y, to live in with the family. There is no worthwhile outcome that can be achieved by further investigation. We cannot achieve the remedy that Mrs X seeks and parts of her complaint are late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about disabled adaptations completed on a property she purchased from the Council which had been adapted to meet her disabled son’s needs. Specifically, she complains that:
• the property is not as disabled friendly as she had expected given her son’s needs;
• the project was mismanaged which led to mistakes that needed to be rectified and which has also led to financial hardship;
• nobody has taken responsibility for the poor workmanship issues the family has encountered; and
• communication was poor throughout the project.
2. Mrs X says this has caused distress and financial hardship and affected her mental health. Mrs X would like the Council to remove the charge it placed on the property.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants,
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered all the information Mrs X provided and discussed this complaint with her.
6. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have taken any comments received into consideration before reaching my final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Charges on a property

7. A charging order is a 'secured debt'. It is an order that 'secures' a debt against a property, which means if you sell that property before clearing the debt, money from the sale will be taken to pay it off. This is often called a charge.

What happened

8. In 2019, Mrs X asked the Council to consider a proposal she had to help care for her son Mr Y. Mr Y has learning difficulties and a range of physical health needs.
9. By the end of the proposed process, the Council would have adapted a suitable property for the family to live in and Mr and Mrs X would own the property. The Council bought the property which was to be adapted and works began. Due to the amounts of money involved, the agreement was for the Council to sell the property it had adapted to Mr and Mrs X but place a charge on the property for the amount it had spent.
10. At the end of the project, after purchase and build costs had been calculated, the charge was almost £300,000. This will remain in place until the house is sold.
11. Mrs X purchased the property from the Council in 2023.
12. Early in November 2023, Mrs X complained to the Council about various things she was unhappy with. Mrs X asked the Council to remove the charge on the property due to the issues she complained of.
13. After the Council had finalised its complaints procedure, Mrs X approached the Ombudsman in February 2024. Mrs X again expressed her wish for the charge on the property to be removed or halved. Mrs X also said that if the charge was not removed, she wished to seek compensation for the issues and financial hardship she complains of.

Analysis

Disabled friendly

14. Mrs X complains the property she purchased from the Council is not as disabled friendly as she had expected.
15. The design of the adaptations for the property would have been agreed during the planning and build process which was a significant amount of time ago. The Ombudsman cannot now investigate this as the complaint to us is late. I am satisfied there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters now and that no worthwhile outcome can be achieved by further investigation. The Ombudsman would not be able to achieve the remedy that Mrs X seeks.

Project mismanagement

16. Mrs X complains the project was mismanaged, leading to mistakes and financial hardship.
17. I will not investigate these matters now as part of this element of the complaint is late and I see no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate now.
18. I am also satisfied that no worthwhile outcome can be achieved by further investigation as the Ombudsman will not be able to achieve the remedy Mrs X seeks.

Poor workmanship

19. Mrs X complains that nobody has taken responsibility for the poor workmanship issues the family encountered during the build process.
20. The Council has advised Mrs X that works were signed off by building control and explained the professional accreditations the contractors have. The Council has also confirmed that it and Mrs X had agreed the final snagging issues had been completed and the build was signed off in July 2023 with the contractor then receiving a final payment.
21. I am satisfied that no worthwhile outcome can be achieved by further investigation and that the remedy Mrs X seeks cannot be achieved by the Ombudsman.

Poor communication

22. Mrs X complains communication was poor throughout the project.
23. The Council has outlined its position in its complaint response to Mrs X discussing some of the communication between the parties and how communications had become strained by the end of the project.
24. I am satisfied that no worthwhile outcome can be achieved by further investigation and that the remedy Mrs X seeks cannot be achieved by the Ombudsman.

Remedy

25. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body and is not able to review events which have taken place over significant periods of time. We cannot achieve the remedy Mrs X seeks in terms of removing or reducing the substantial charge on the property or award her compensation for what she feels has gone wrong and the financial hardship she feels she has suffered. Mrs X has an alternative route available to her and has the right to seek redress via the courts should she choose. This would be at her own cost.
26. On this basis, I am satisfied that in the circumstances of this complaint, no worthwhile outcome can be achieved by further investigation.

Back to top

Final decision

27. I have ended my investigation. There is no worthwhile outcome achievable by further investigation.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman