Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision that the complainant cannot pay for a landlord licence by direct debit. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council will not honour an agreement to let him pay by direct debit for his landlord licence. He wants the Council to honour the agreement and pay him compensation.

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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 an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered information about the landlord licencing scheme and comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Landlord licensing scheme

4. The Council introduced a landlord licensing scheme from April 2014 to July 2019. Anybody renting a home to tenants, within this period, had to obtain a licence and pay a licence fee. The same fee applied regardless of when within the licensing period the landlord applied for a licence. The Council offered a discretionary option to pay by direct debit apart from during the last six months of the licensing period.

What happened

5. In May 2018 Mr X expressed an interest in obtaining a licence. The Council sent him an application form and a direct debit form. The guidance notes said “the Council allows direct debit payments to be made at its discretion and reserves the right to request payment in full.” The fee was £750.
6. Mr X applied for a licence in January 2019. The Council said he could not pay by direct debit. Mr X complained and said the Council should honour the agreement it made in May when it sent a direct debit form. In response the Council explained that direct debt was available when it had sent the form in May but it was no longer available as there were now less than six months until the end of the licensing period. It said that if he had a property to let when the new licensing period started he would be able to pay by direct debit. The Council confirmed Mr X could not pay by direct debit but it invited him to pay in instalments. Mr X accepted this offer.
7. Mr X says the Council should have told him, in advance, that direct debit would not be available in 2019. He says it is unfair that the same fee applies regardless of when someone applies for a licence. He says landlords who apply towards the end of the next licencing period in 2023 or 2024 will be disadvantaged.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The Council sent Mr X a direct debit form in May 2018. If Mr X had applied for the licence in May he would have been able to pay by direct debit. But, by the time he applied, in January, the situation had changed because there were only a few months left in the licensing period. This is a reflection of things changing over time and not an indication of fault by the Council. The Council did not mention the lack of direct debit for the last six months but the notes did say that it was at the Council’s discretion. In addition it offered payment by instalment which meant Mr X did not need to pay the whole fee at once.
9. Mr X thinks it is wrong that the same fee applies regardless of when someone applies for the licence. However, the fee is for the licence, not for the licensing period. In addition, it is for the Council, not the Ombudsman to set the fee and the licensing policy. The fee would have been set in 2013 or 2014. I would not investigate a decision made so long ago regarding a licensing period that has now ended.
10. Mr X says landlords who apply towards the end of the next licensing period will be disadvantaged. I will not investigate this part of the complaint because it is about something that may happen in the future. The Ombudsman investigates fault that has caused an injustice to the person making the complaint. He does not investigate complaints about things that might happen in the future.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and insufficient evidence of injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman