City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (25 021 706)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about council tax liability because the complainant has a right of appeal through the Council which it is reasonable to expect him to use.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refused to change the date it began charging him an empty house premium on a property he owns. Mr X says his renovation of the property was delayed because the Council failed to deal with flooding of nearby properties. Mr X says this has caused him stress and anxiety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X disagrees with the date the Council applied an empty home premium to a property he pays council tax on. In its response to his complaint the Council explained that Mr X could make an appeal to the Council if he continued to dispute the date the premium should have been applied. It would be reasonable to expect Mr X to use this route and we will therefore not investigate this point.
- If, after using the Council internal appeal, Mr X still does not agree with the Council’s decision, he could appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction. It is independent of the Council. The Valuation Tribunal could consider all matters that Mr X might raise about why he believes he is not liable to pay all the council tax the Council demands.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has the right to appeal the decision through the Council’s internal process and it is reasonable to expect him to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman