Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her right to buy application. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to issue statutory notices of delay or to take the matter to court. The Ombudsman has no powers to consider the part of Miss X’s complaint about disrepair to her home.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about the time taken to process her right to buy application. Miss X also complains about disrepair in her home.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if an alternative statutory process was, or is available, that would address the issue, and we believe it is reasonable to expect the person to use, or have used, that process. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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

6. I considered Miss X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I gave Miss X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

7. Miss X wants to buy her home under the right to buy scheme. Miss X says the Council has unnecessarily delayed the process. She also complains about disrepair in her home.
8. The Housing Act 1985 contains provisions for resolving problems and disputes about the right to buy scheme. Section 153A of the Act allows tenants to serve an ‘initial notice of delay’ form if they consider the Council is holding up the sale. The Council must then either progress the sale 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 speed the process up.
9. If the Council does not reply within a month, the tenant can complete an ‘operative notice of delay’ form. Rent paid while waiting for the sale to complete, can then be deducted from the sale price.
10. If a council still does not act on notices of delay, a tenant may take their dispute to the County Court. Under Section 181 of the Housing Act 1985, the County Court has a wide discretion to decide any question arising under the provisions relating to the right to buy scheme, other than the value of the property.
11. The role of the Ombudsman is to look for administrative fault by councils. We are not an appeals body, and before deciding whether to investigate a complaint, we need to consider what other options are available.
12. The Ombudsman normally expects a purchaser under the right to buy scheme to use the processes and options set out above. They are the specific methods provided by Parliament to deal with right to buy disputes. Based on the evidence available, I see no reason Miss X should not use the options which are available to her. The Ombudsman’s involvement is not therefore appropriate.
13. The exception at paragraph 5 also applies to Miss X’s complaint. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about the management of social housing when a council is acting as a landlord. The part of Miss X’s complaint about disrepair to her home is therefore outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.

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Final decision

14. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to use the statutory processes available to her. The rest of Miss X’s complaint is outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman