Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s delaying an offer to buy back a council property which it sold in the past. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council delaying a response to its initial interest in buying back a property from Mr X which had belonged to a late relative. He says he delayed the sale on the open market and as a result lost value when the Council failed to follow up its initial enquiry.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X says he offered to sell a late relative’s home back to the Council in 2023. He says after the Council’s initial enquiry in May 2023 he did not hear anything further about the progression of the potential purchase. As a result, he says he waited 18 months before selling the property at a diminished value due to market changes in the meantime.
6. He later complained to the Council but it told him that this was a private sale and that he was free to put the property on the open market at any time if he was dissatisfied with the Council’s lack of further interest. There is no statutory duty for a council to buy back its sold properties and the Right of First Refusal applies to sellers who purchased their home from the Council within the past 10 years, which did not apply here.
7. We will not investigate this complaint which concerns matters which the complainant was aware of more than 12 months before they brought it to our attention. It was reasonable for Mr X to find out from the Council if it was interested in the purchase within weeks of the initial contact in 2023 and market the property elsewhere if it was not.
8. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking.

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Final decision

9. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s delaying an offer to buy back a council property which it sold in the past. this complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman