Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs Q’s complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to respond to her query about council properties sold under the Right to Buy. This is because the injustice she has suffered is not significant enough to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called Mrs Q, complained that Brentwood Borough Council has failed to respond to her query about council properties sold under the Right to Buy.

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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 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 considered the information Mrs Q provided. I invited Mrs Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

4. The Housing Act 1985 gave eligible tenants of social landlords (including councils) the right to buy their council property at a discount if they meet certain criteria.
5. If the former tenant sells their property within five years of buying it they normally have to repay some or all of the discount they received. And, if the former tenant sells their property within 10 years of buying it, there are restrictions on who they may sell the property to.

What happened

6. Mrs Q asked a question at a council meeting regarding people who have bought their council property under the Right to Buy. She wanted to know what action the Council takes to ensure those people comply with the rules on re-selling their properties.
7. Mrs Q was not satisfied with the response given at the council meeting. She later wrote to the Council asking for further information. She said the Council did not respond to her queries.

Analysis

8. I understand Mrs Q wants to be sure the Council is doing all it can to ensure people who bought their council property under the Right to Buy do what the law requires them to do when they sell their property. However, the injustice Mrs Q has suffered because of any failure to ensure this, or to respond to her queries about the matter, is not significant enough to justify an investigation by us. We will not investigate her complaint for this reason.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the injustice Mrs Q has suffered is not significant enough.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman