Summary: Mr X complains that the Council has not awarded empty property business rate relief on his property. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has not awarded empty property business rate relief on his property.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the complainant's and Council's comments. The complainant has been given the opportunity to comment before a final decision has been made.

Back to top

What I found

4. Mr X applied for empty property rate relief from his business rates for a property he rented in October 2018. The Council initially agreed to grant the relief. However. The Council then withdrew the relief as the landlord had told them the property had been empty for three months prior to Mr X’s lease.
5. The Council’s policy states that 3 months business rate relief will be granted from the date the property became empty (for the total period the property is empty). Therefore, when the landlord stated that the property had previously been empty for three months prior to Mr X’s lease commencement, it says it had to grant that relief to the landlord instead.
6. Mr X says that this conflicts with the Council’s policy. The Council’s policy states; “Rates will not be payable in the first three months that a property is empty.” It does not state that this period starts with occupation by a tenant. Therefore, any previous empty status of the property would be taken into account and the relief awarded to the liable person, in this case, the landlord.
7. I am not persuaded that the Council’s actions are fault as it considered its policy. In the absence of administrative fault, the Ombudsman could not be critical of the Council’s decision.

Back to top

Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman