Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed the complainants purchase of his property under the right to buy scheme and subsequently cancelled his application. This is because it would have been reasonable to have followed the statutory process regarding delays to the process and taken the matter to court. It is unlikely we could find fault with the Council’s decision to cancel the application.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council has managed purchase of his property under the right to buy scheme. He says the Council delayed the application meaning he had to pay rent during the process. He also says the Council cancelled the application without notifying him. He says the Council has now accepted a new application but he is concerned the valuation of his property will have increased.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. There is a strict procedure with time limits for each stage of the Right to Buy process. The Housing Act 1985 provides for a Right to Buy applicant to serve a Notice on the Council if they consider it is delaying on the sale. The Council must either move along the sale or send a counter notice to the tenant explaining what action it has taken or explain why it cannot progress the sale.
7. If the Council does not reply within a month the tenant can complete a ‘operative notice of delay’ form. Any rent the tenant pays while waiting for the Council’s response can be taken off the sale price.
8. 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 Act. This section of the Housing Act makes provision for an applicant to ask the Court to decide any issue arising during their application to purchase.
9. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council delayed the sale process because it was reasonable for him to have completed the legal procedure set out in paragraphs 6 – 8, if he believed the Council were delaying the sale of the property. The courts are in the best position to decide the issues complained about and the procedure allows for rent to be taken off the purchase price if there has been delay.
10. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to warn him that it planned to cancel his application. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault. The Council issued Mr X with a notice of delay by post and canceled the application when it did not receive a response. Mr X says he did not receive the notice, but this could be because Royal Mail failed to deliver it. We cannot hold the Council responsible for such an error, and I have no other independent means of establishing why Mr X did not receive his letter.
11. Mr X says the Council told him it will accept a new application from him, but he is concerned that the valuation may have changed. The district valuer, who is independent of the Council, can decide any question about the value of a house being sold under the right to buy scheme. We expect people to go to the district valuer because that is the route the law provides. The district valuer has the relevant expertise and can make binding decisions.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delays to the right to buy process because he could have taken the matter to court. It is unlikely we could find fault regarding its decision to cancel his application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman