Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging a premium rate of council tax for a period between 2019 and 2021. This is because the Council’s decision carries a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal which the evidence shows the complainant could reasonably exercise. The complaint is also late and there are no good reasons why we should exercise our discretion and investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Mr Y) complains about the Council’s decision to impose a premium council tax rate for a property he owns. The council tax demand relates to a period between August 2019 and November 2021 which Mr Y says has been billed at a rate of 200% due to the property being unoccupied. The amount of council tax is disputed by Mr Y because he says the property was uninhabitable at the time due to refurbishments which went on longer than expected because of the covid-19 pandemic. He also says he only received a payment demand from the Council in May 2024 having not heard anything for a number of years.
2. In summary, Mr Y says the Council’s payment demand is unfair and an a justifiable expense which fails to consider his extenuating circumstances. He says the alleged fault has also caused him significant uncertainty on account of not hearing anything from the Council for a prolounged period. As a desired outcome, Mr Y wants the Council to consider his extenuating circumstances and cancel the amount billed. He would also like an apology.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).
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).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. The complainant now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

7. Councils have the power to increase council tax on long term empty dwellings. A decision to impose an empty charge carries a right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. This is the appropriate body to consider Mr Y’s reasons why he is not liable for the amount of council tax. I note from documents available to me that Mr Y wrote to the Valuation Tribunal seeking to appeal in March 2021. Given he did so, I consider it would reasonable that he pursues the matter there. Further, it is not the role of the Ombudsman to determine disputes about council tax liability. The restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) applies.
8. In any event, the legal restriction I outline at paragraph four (above) inserts a time limit for a member of the public to bring their complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. Its intention is two-fold: to provide us with the best opportunity of arriving at a robust, evidence-based decision on complaints about recent events and to ensure fairness by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner. Given Mr Y sought to appeal to the Valuation Tribunal in March 2021, it follows he became aware of the problem around that time. Mr X has brought his complaint to us three years later and it is therefore late. There are no good reasons why the complaint could not have been made to us sooner, or why we should exercise our discretion and investigate.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council’s decision carries a right of appeal to a statutory tribunal which the evidence shows Mr Y could reasonably exercise. The complaint is also late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman