Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s aborted purchase of her former council property. This is because we are satisfied with the Council’s actions to remedy the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains the Council went back on its offer to buy her flat. She says its actions have caused her financial loss and ill-health.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I reviewed Mrs X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I shared my draft decision with Mrs X and considered her comments.

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What I found

4. Mrs X owns a former council property. She approached the Council about it’s ‘Buy Back’ programme which is a scheme for the Council to recover properties sold through ‘Right to Buy‘ for use as social housing.
5. The Council’s independent surveyor carried out an inspection/survey in July 2019 and valued Mrs X’s property at £82,500. Mrs X decided on this basis to sell the property back to the Council.
6. The Council had a target date of 21 October 2019 to complete its purchase and its letters explained Mrs X would have to ensure the property was empty. However Mrs X says the Council did not respond to correspondence from her/her solicitor in the weeks leading up to the target date, which Mrs X understood to be a firm date for completion of the sale. She therefore disposed of a large number of her belongings to clear the house.
7. The Council then sent a different surveyor to the property who reduced the valuation to £65,000. Mrs X was not happy with this offer and has decided not to proceed. She wants the Council to pay her £5,100 so that she can replace the belongings she disposed of. The Council has refused to pay Mrs X this amount but has offered a payment of £500.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. Mrs X confirms she had solicitors acting for her in the sale of her property and they should have advised there was no formal contract in place to sell it to the Council for £82,500. While this was clearly the Council’s intention it was Mrs X’s choice to dispose of her belongings without any firm agreement or confirmed date for the sale.
9. The Council has apologised to Mrs X and offered a significant amount to remedy her injustice and it is unlikely we would recommend anything more for her. It has also agreed to change its processes to improve the Buy Back process in order to reduce the likelihood of repetition.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy for Mrs X’s injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman