City of Doncaster Council (24 010 645)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Nov 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about valuation and delay in the right to buy process. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The valuation was made by the District Valuer. It is binding and we have no jurisdiction over District Valuer decisions. The complainant has used the legal notice of delay and it is reasonable to expect them to proceed to court action.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the right to buy process. He says the Council:
- Delayed the process
- Overvalued the property; and
- Applied the wrong discount
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint for the reasons listed below.
- Mr X disagrees with the District Valuers’ valuation of his property. The property was independently valued by the District Valuer and the decision is binding on both the Council and Mr X. We have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about decisions by the District Valuer.
- Mr X has served a ‘notice of delay’ on the Council. If the Council does not act on notices of delay, a tenant may take their dispute to the County Court, under section 181 of the Housing Act. This makes provision for an applicant to ask the Court to decide any issue/disputes arising during their application to purchase, including discounts and delay. The law expressly provides this route for RTB disputes, so we normally expect people to use it.
- We will not investigate this complaint. I consider it was reasonable for Mrs X to use the notice of delay process and, if necessary, to go to court, to resolve her concerns.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman