Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not provide him with accurate information about work that was planned on the building he lives in, when he was considering buying his Council flat in 2021 and that it cancelled his application to purchase the flat. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint because it is late, and Mr X could have complained to us sooner. In addition, Mr X was not caused a significant personal injustice to justify an investigation by us.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not provide him with accurate information about work that was planned on the building he lives in, when he was considering buying his Council flat in 2021 and that it cancelled his application to purchase the flat. Mr X said the Council did not tell him about work that was going to be completed on the building that he would have been liable to pay for if he had bought the flat. Mr X wanted the Council to reinstate his 2021 application so he could buy the property at the price it was in 2021.

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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’, 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read the documents Mr X provided and discussed the complaint with him on the telephone.
5. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant guidance

6. The Ombudsman’s Guidance on Jurisdiction states the 12 months referred to in paragraph 2 runs from the day the person affected was aware of the matter they complained about.
7. The intention of the 12 month rule is to provide us with the best opportunity to make a robust and evidenced based finding on complaints about recent events, and allows us to decline an investigation in to historic matters, which could and should have been brought to our attention far sooner.
8. It states it may not be reasonable for someone to complain to us within 12 months if they were taking the complaint through the council’s complaint process, believed the council was taking action on the matter they complained about or had not allowed the matter to rest for more than a few months.
9. The Guidance on Jurisdiction also sets out our approach to personal injustice. It states that we will normally only investigate a complaint where:
• the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures by the service provider, or
• there are continuous and ongoing instances of a lower level injustice that remain unresolved over a long period of time.

What happened

10. Mr X lives in a Council flat in a Council owned building. In 2020 and 2021 he made two applications to buy his Council flat under the right to buy scheme. The right to buy refers to rights granted under the Housing Act 1985 (as amended) to tenants of social landlords including councils to buy their home at a discount provided they meet the criteria.
11. The Council issued a notice offering to sell the flat to Mr X in early 2021 which included details of estimated service costs, including possible major works. Mr X did not agree with the terms in the Council’s notice about future works and so did not sign the agreement to buy the flat.
12. The Council cancelled Mr X’s application in January 2022 and told him it had done so.
13. The Council told Mr X of work it intended to complete on the building where he lived in March 2022, it had previously told Mr X of the work in 2017. Mr X states if he had purchased the property in 2021 he would have been liable to pay for the works.
14. In January 2023 Mr X complained to us about the Council’s actions. We told Mr X that he must complain to the Council in the first instance. We told Mr X to contact us if he had not received a final response from the Council or 12 weeks had passed without resolution.
15. The Council sent Mr X a response to his complaint in January 2023. It said it did not uphold his complaint and if he wanted to purchase his Council property he could reapply. It said if he was unhappy with its response he could ask for a review.
16. Mr X did not contact the Council and ask for a review. He sent the Council two emails, one in August 2023 and one in September 2023 and asked for further information about the work on the building.
17. In January 2024 Mr X complained to us again about the same matters.

My findings

18. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint. This is for the reasons set out below.

Late complaint

19. Mr X’s complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now. It was reasonable for him to have complained to us sooner. Therefore, the law says we cannot investigate.
20. Mr X complains about matters that occurred in 2021, and January and March 2022. Mr X initially complained to us in January 2023. We advised Mr X to raise the complaint with the Council and return to us if he had not made progress within 12 weeks. At the same time the Council responded to Mr X and advised him how he could progress his complaint through the complaint process. Mr X did not take any substantive action on his complaint for a further year. Mr X states he was progressing matters with the Council, however the two emails he sent in 12 months were requesting information and not progressing his complaint.
21. Therefore, I am satisfied he could have complained to us sooner, so we will not now investigate his complaint.

Personal injustice

22. Mr X states that if he had purchased his Council flat, he would have been liable for the cost of the works completed after March 2022. Mr X did not sign the agreement to buy the flat in 2021, therefore he was not liable for the cost of the works. Mr X was not caused serious loss, harm or distress by the actions of the Council and therefore there is no justification to spend public money in completing an investigation.

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Final decision

23. I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint because the complaint is late and any injustice caused to Mr X is not significant enough to justify investigating.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman