Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint that the Council did not give him enough time to refurbish a property which he agreed to purchase. This is because it is unlikely that we would find fault in how the Council dealt with the matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Mr C, complains that the Council failed to give him enough time to complete refurbishment works to a property which he agreed to purchase. Mr C says the Council’s actions have caused him financial hardship.

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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:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mr C’s complaint and the Council’s response. I have invited Mr C to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

Background

4. The Council operates a scheme that allows people to purchase rundown properties at a greatly reduced price. Participants of the scheme sign a contract agreeing to carry out all necessary refurbishment works within twelve months.

What happened

5. Mr C successfully applied for the scheme, and in mid-November 2017 he signed a contract. He therefore had until mid-November 2018 to complete the works. However, works were not signed off until mid-January 2019.
6. Mr C complains that the Council pressured him into completing works and did not give him the three-to-four-month additional time that he was previously promised.
7. Mr C said his builder started work on the property in September and had told him that it would only take twelve weeks to complete. However, this was delayed which is why the works were not completed on time.
8. Mr C says the Council pressured him to complete the works, which meant he had to obtain the services of a builder unfamiliar to him. Mr C says the builder subsequently took money from Mr C without completing any work.
9. The Council says it first contacted Mr C in February 2018, after works had not started at the property. It then continued to contact him until work finally commenced in September 2018.
10. The Council disagreed that it did not give Mr C enough time to complete the works and explained that one of the reasons for this was that work did not commence until ten months after he took control of the property.

Assessment

11. I will not start an investigation into Mr C’s complaint for the following reasons.
12. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The original agreement was for the work to be completed within twelve months. The Council gave Mr C extensions to the deadline, which amounted to an additional two months and has explained its reasons for not extending the deadline further. I appreciate Mr C disagrees with this decision, but that does not mean the Council has done anything wrong.
13. I am also unable to achieve the outcome Mr C wants. Mr C wants the Council to compensate him for money that he paid his builder for work that was not completed. However, this is a private transaction between Mr C and his builder and is therefore not something I can hold the Council accountable for.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr C wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman