Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to complete his Right to Buy application made in 1995. We will not investigate as it is caught by the time bar on our powers and there are no good reasons to investigate. As even if Mr X had complained promptly, it is likely we would have advised him it was reasonable for him to use the legal remedy available to him under the Right to Buy procedure in the County Court.

The complaint

1. In short, Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to progress his application to purchase his home outstanding since 1995. He would like to complete his application and be paid compensation for paying rent for 28 years.
2. Mr X says he has suffered frustration and spent a lot of money on solicitors’ fees.

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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. 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)
5. 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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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. I will not investigate as Mr X has made his complaint late and it is therefore caught by our legal time bar on investigating. I do not see good reason to investigate now.
8. Further, 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. So, overall I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as it is late. And there are no good reasons to investigate as it was reasonable to expect him to use the legal remedy available to him in the County Court.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this late complaint. And there are no good reasons for us to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman