London Borough of Enfield (25 027 989)
Category : Benefits and tax > Council tax
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 18 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council tax liability because a right of appeal to a valuation tribunal has been used.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council wrongly held him liable for Council tax on a property and failed to advise him of his right of appeal to a valuation tribunal.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Valuation Tribunal deals with appeals against decisions on council tax liability and council tax support or reduction.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X disputes his liability for Council tax on his property as he says it is a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) and so the landlord should be liable. He says that the Council has delayed responding to him and failed to advise him of his right of appeal to a valuation tribunal. Nevertheless, he has now appealed to the valuation tribunal.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this matter as he has appealed to a valuation tribunal. The complaint is therefore out of jurisdiction.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he appealed to a valuation tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman