Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council refusing to extend her Right to Buy application in 2016. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they complained to us.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council refusing to extend her Right to Buy application or to accept a cash offer on the final day of the last extension in 2016. As a result, she had to re-apply for the purchase in 2016 and the price had increased considerably from the original 2012 valuation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. 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, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered all the information which Mrs X submitted with her complaint. Mrs X has been given an opportunity to comment on a draft copy of my decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs X applied to buy her council home in 2012. She appealed the initial valuation and a revised valuation was issued in 2015 of £150,000. The Council issued several statutory notices to Mrs X for completion of the sale in 2015-16 and she asked for extensions.
6. In March 2016 the Council issued its final extension. Mrs X did not complete the sale by the required date in April and so the Right to Buy expired. She had to make a new application and the valuation of the property was £285,000. She says the Council should have allowed her to complete at the original valuation and given a further extension.
7. The Ombudsman does not normally investigate complaints which have been submitted outside the 12-month period for accepting complaints. We will not exercise discretion to consider this matter now because the Council issued the required statutory notices as part of the Right to Buy procedure.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman should not exercise his discretion to investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they complained to us.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman