London Borough of Southwark (23 007 470)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Sep 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a payment related to a leasehold property. The law prevents us investigating such complaints.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council has not refunded a payment he mistakenly made.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate complaints about the management of housing let on a long lease by a council that is a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5B, schedule 5, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council is a registered provider of social housing. It owns the freehold of a flat. Mr X owned the lease on that flat, which he sold to someone else. Shortly after the sale, Mr X mistakenly sent the Council a payment for leasehold charges for which he was no longer responsible. He is dissatisfied the Council has not returned the payment to him.
- The complaint is about the Council’s action in connection with management of housing as described in paragraph 2 above. Therefore, the legal restriction I mentioned prevents us investigating.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law does not allow us to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman