Thurrock Council (24 020 761)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Apr 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to accept the complainant submitted a Right to Buy application to buy his home in October. The Council confirms it has no record of the application and we consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome. Mr X wants the Council to honour the previous maximum discount on a new application. This is not something we can achieve.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refuses to accept he submitted a Right to Buy (RTB) application to buy his home before the Government reduced the maximum discount amount.
- He wants the Council to accept that he put in the application and honour the larger discount.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X says he submitted a RTB application at the end of October, before the Government reduced the maximum discount available.
- The Council says it has thoroughly checked its records. It says Mr X made a RTB application in June and withdrew it in August. It confirms it has no record of receiving any other applications from Mr X.
- The Council also confirms it checked the CCTV records following Mr X’s request. However the footage is only kept for 30 days before being erased.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council has confirmed it has checked its records and has no RTB application from Mr X in October. We consider further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.
- Mr X wants the Council to apply the previous maximum discount to a new RTB application. This is not something we can achieve for him.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman