Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the valuation price used by the Council in the complainant’s second Right to Buy application. The complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to have used her right to ask for a new valuation by the District Valuer.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mrs X, complains the Council refuses to honour the valuation obtained for her first Right to Buy (RTB) application.

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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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X applied to the Council to buy her home under the RTB scheme. The Council accepted her application and her house was valued at £250,000. Some months later the application was discontinued.
6. Mrs X put in a new application. The new valuation for her home increased by £25,000.
7. Any disagreement with the price offered can be appealed to the Council asking it to obtain an independent valuation. The District Valuer (part of the HMRC) will then visit and value the home.
8. If the Council or tenant disputes the District Valuer’s valuation of the property, they can appeal (provided they do so within 28 days of the Section 128 Notice). The District Valuer will review the valuation and make a second binding valuation. The District Valuer must again consider any representations made by the Council or the applicant.
9. Mrs X did not appeal the second valuation. She returned the forms to continue with the purchase. However, she included a letter asking the Council to honour the sale at the original valuation of £200,000.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to have used her right to appeal against the second valuation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman