Luton Borough Council (24 013 828)

Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 06 Nov 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council took too long to process his Right to Buy application. This is because it was reasonable for Mr B to serve legal notices on the Council, and if needed, take the Council to court.

The complaint

  1. Mr B complains the Council delayed processing his Right to Buy application. Mr B says this meant he missed out on two mortgage offers at a lower interest rate. Mr B would like the Council to pay him compensation for the increase to his mortgage interest rate and the rent he paid while waiting to purchase his property.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  2. 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

  1. I considered information provided by Mr B.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. 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 why it cannot progress the sale.
  2. If the council does not reply within a month the tenant can complete an ‘operative notice of delay’ form. Any rent the tenant pays while waiting for the council’s response can be taken off the sale price.
  3. If a council still does not act on notices of delay, a tenant may take their dispute to the county court.
  4. We generally expect this process to be used if a Right to Buy applicant complains about delay.
  5. Mr B says he did not know about this process. But, I find it was reasonable to expect Mr B, who had a solicitor representing him, to have been aware of this process and to have used it.
  6. So, we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it was reasonable for him to take the Council to court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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