Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s delays in progressing her Right to Buy application. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use the legal remedy available to her under the Right to Buy procedure in the County Court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s delays in processing her Right to Buy application. X says she sent in her application to buy her property in September 2021. And that due to the lack of response she has served both a delay notice and an operative notice of delay to no avail.
2. She says there is a risk she may not be able to complete as her mortgage expires at the end of this year. She would like the Council to process her application to buy her property as soon as possible.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. The Act 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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What I found

Legal background – Right to Buy

5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

Assessment

8. Miss X may now take her complaint to the County Court. I find it is reasonable for Miss X to use this procedure to take the Council to court. The Court is 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.

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss X’s Right to Buy application. This is because it is reasonable to expect her to use the legal remedy available to her via the County Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman