Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s suspension of his Right to Buy his Council home. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council ended Mr X’s status as a secure tenant following a criminal investigation. He has no secure tenant’s rights and this includes the Right to Buy. There is no evidence of fault which the Ombudsman could investigate. We cannot investigate a social housing landlord’s decision to end a tenancy because these bodies are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council suspending his Right to Buy his Council home.

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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 or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council.

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

3. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Mr X submitted with his complaint. I have also considered the Council’s response.

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What I found

5. Mr X says the Council has unreasonably suspended his Right to Buy his Council Home. He says he applied to buy his home in 2014 and the Council has delayed and now suspended the procedure. The Council says Mr X did not progress his application beyond the Notice to Complete procedure stage. Because of this the application expired and was withdrawn in 2017.
6. Since 2018 the Council says Mr X has been under investigation for breaches of his tenancy. The Council is now proceeding with a criminal prosecution and served a notice to quit on Mr X, removing his secure tenancy status. Because he is no longer a secure tenant Mr X does not have the Right to Buy his home.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The Council ended Mr X’s status as a secure tenant following a criminal investigation. He has no secure tenant’s rights and this includes the Right to Buy. There is no evidence of fault which the Ombudsman could investigate. We cannot investigate a social housing landlord’s decision to end a tenancy because these bodies are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman