Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council not providing enough information about changes in the Right to Buy scheme and the loss of her application. This is because it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to take court action.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council lost her Right to Buy application and did not tell her in advance about the November 2024 changes to the discounts for council tenants buying their homes. She says this has affected her plans to buy her family home. Mrs X wants the Council to let her buy her home under the previous, more generous terms.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the Right to Buy (Housing Act 1985, section 181). Mrs X can ask the court to decide if the Council failed to publicise the discount changes properly and if the loss of her application means the Council should apply the previous terms to her application. The court can make a binding order.
7. As the law provides this route for resolving such disputes, we normally expect applicants to use it, with legal advice if necessary. There might be some cost to court action, but that does not automatically make taking court action unreasonable, particularly in the context of a significant transaction such as buying a home. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mrs X to use the right to go to court.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to use the alternative court remedy available to her.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman