Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council handled a ‘right to buy’ application. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to use her right to take court action.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her application to buy her home, including the Council saying parts of her application were missing, giving inconsistent information and closing her application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X applied for the right to buy her home from the Council. The Council closed the application, saying it was incomplete. Miss X disagrees and states she completed and sent to the Council every part of the application. She also states the Council was inconsistent about which information it claimed was missing from her application.
7. The Council says if Miss X wants to buy her home, she will need to apply again. In the meantime, however, national ‘right to buy’ discount rules have changed, so if Miss X makes a new application, she will receive a smaller discount. Miss X wants the Council to proceed under the rules at the time she first applied.
8. The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the right to buy, except for disputes about the valuation of property; the latter point is not relevant to this complaint. (Housing Act 1985, section 181)
9. As the law expressly provides this route for resolving such disputes, we normally expect applicants to use it, with legal advice if necessary. The court can take evidence on oath about what was sent to, and received by, the Council when Miss X applied. The court can decide the matter and make a binding order. There might be some cost to court action, but that, in itself, does not automatically make it unreasonable to expect someone to take court action, particularly in the context of a transaction for a valuable asset such as Miss X's home. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use the right to go to court.
10. Miss X is also dissatisfied with the Council’s communications with her and its general handling of the matter. As we are not investigating the central point of the complaint – the Council’s reasons for closing the application – it would be a disproportionate use of resources to pursue these peripheral matters.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to use her right to go to court on the main point of the complaint. It would be disproportionate in the circumstances for us to consider other points.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman