Bristol City Council (20 008 566)

Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 19 Jan 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint on behalf of Miss C about the Council’s delay in dealing with the purchase of her home under the right to buy. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the consequences of the Council’s actions managing its social housing and it is reasonable to expect Miss C to use alternative options if the Council delays her right to buy purchase for reasons unrelated to ongoing warranty and disrepair issues.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, Mr B, has complained on behalf of his sister, Miss C, about the Council’s delay in dealing with the purchase of her home under the right to buy (RTB) provisions set out in the Housing Act 1985.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  2. 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)
  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.

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the information Mr B provided and the Council’s responses to his complaint. I have spoken to Mr B by telephone and given him an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

  1. Miss C has consented in writing to Mr B acting on her behalf.
  2. Following a complaint to the Housing Ombudsman, the Council agreed to carry out remedial work to Miss C’s home. Mr B told us, after an inspection in November 2020, he found out the Council’s work had cancelled the original External Wall Insulation (EWI) warranty. Mr B said Miss C applied to buy the property on the basis the original EWI warranty was valid and the family could carry out works they wanted to do after the Council had satisfactorily completed the work needed beforehand.
  3. On the basis of the information available to date, it appears that the delay in the RTB process is a direct result of the repair and warranty issues. We cannot investigate these matters because we cannot investigate actions the Council has taken in its role of managing its social housing. But we can consider complaints about delay in the RTB process if it results from actions the Council has taken which are not part of its role in managing its social housing.
  4. Once councils receive an application from a tenant to buy their property, they have four weeks to issue a notice confirming the applicants are eligible (RTB2). They have eight weeks to send the applicant a formal offer letter (RTB4).
  5. If a council fails to meet the timescales, applicants may serve an ‘Initial Notice of Delay’ form (RTB6). If they receive no response to this within a month, they may send an ‘Operative Notice of Delay’ form (RTB8). Once the RTB8 form is sent, a council (as landlord) may need to refund rent paid during the period of delay.
  6. 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 relating to the right to buy scheme, other than the value of the property.
  7. Before deciding whether to investigate a complaint, we need to consider what other options are available. We normally expect a purchaser under the right to buy scheme to use the processes and options set out above. They are the specific methods parliament provided to deal with right to buy disputes. If the Council delays Miss C’s RTB purchase for reasons unrelated to the warranty and repair issues, I see no reason Miss C with Mr B’s help should not use the options which are available to her. Our involvement is not therefore appropriate.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate complaints about the consequences of the Council’s actions managing its social housing and it is reasonable to expect Miss C to use alternative options if the Council delays her right to buy purchase for reasons unrelated to ongoing warranty and disrepair issues.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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