Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council is handling the complainant’s Right to Buy application. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to use the alternative remedies available to her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Miss B, says the Council has caused delay in the purchase of her home under the Right to Buy (RTB) process. In particular, Miss B says the Council has failed to correct errors on legal documents, it has not issued a valuation for the property, and it does not respond to her chasing emails/calls.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. We use 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. We 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 would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. And the law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Miss B’s complaint to the Ombudsman, the complaint correspondence between Miss B and the Council, and some of the RTB correspondence between Miss B and the Council.
6. I also gave Miss B the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this statement.

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What I found

Background

7. Section 181 of the Housing Act sets out the RTB process.
8. The Act allows tenants to serve an ‘initial notice of delay’ (RTB6) form if they consider the Council is holding up the sale. The Council must then either move the sale along within a month, or send a counter notice to the tenant. The counter notice will explain what action the Council has already taken, or explain why it cannot progress the sale.
9. If the Council does not reply within a month, the tenant can complete an ‘operative notice of delay’ (RTB8) form. Any rent the tenant pays while waiting for the Council’s response can be taken off the sale price.
10. A tenant can initiate this process each time there is a delay in progressing the RTB application.
11. If a Council still does not act on notices of delay, a tenant may take their dispute to the County Court. This provides for the Court to decide any question or dispute about the RTB process, other than the value of the property.

Summary of what happened

12. Miss B submitted her RTB application to the Council in mid-May 2019. As she did not receive a response, she issued the Council with an RTB6 form on 11 June.
13. The Council accepted Miss B’s application on 3 July, but Miss B says she did not receive the associated correspondence. When Miss B later received copies, she noted the address on the RTB2 form was incorrect, and says she has since asked the Council to correct this.
14. As Miss B had not received the RTB2 form in July, she sent the Council an RTB8 form, and subsequently submitted a Stage 1 complaint in early August.
15. On 7 August, the Council responded to the RTB8 form. The Council said it would calculate the days within the delay period and would deduct the rent value from the purchase price. It explained a surveyor would arrange a visit, and asked Miss B for some information.
16. On 16 August, the Council provided its Stage 1 complaint response. It again accepted the delay in issuing the RTB2 form, and explained the current status of the application and the procedural steps it had taken to prevent further delays.
17. Miss B escalated her complaint to Stage 2, and I understand the Council responded on 29 August.

Assessment

18. If Miss B believes the Council has continued to delay the purchase process following its response to her earlier RTB6 form, then she can initiate that process again.
19. And if there is a dispute about some other aspect of the purchase process then she may raise this in the County Court. I consider it reasonable to expect Miss B to use this alternative right of remedy in the courts, particularly given its expertise in determining such matters.
20. So, with reference to paragraphs 3 and 4 above, the Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint.

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Final decision

21. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss B to use the alternative remedies available to her.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman