Summary: We will not investigate this housing complaint. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action on the dispute about his application to buy his home. On other points, either the law prevents us investigating or it is unlikely we could reach a clear view.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council forced him to move between social housing properties in 2023 and his new property is unsuitable, but he has to remain there because of his position on the Council’s housing register. He also complains about the discount the Council offered for him to buy his home under the ‘right to buy’ scheme.

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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. We cannot investigate complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)
6. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mr X and copy correspondence from the Council. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Mr X’s move from his previous to his present home

8. Mr X was a Council tenant at his previous home and remains a Council tenant in his present home. He says the council gave wrong information to convince him to move out of his previous home. He also states the Council pressured him into bidding for his present home, which he says does not suit his needs.
9. The restriction in paragraph 3 prevents us investigating this point as far as it concerns the Council’s actions as Mr X’s social housing landlord.
10. This point might also concern the Council’s actions in its housing allocation process. Mr X moved homes in 2023, so the restriction in paragraph 4 applies. I see no good reason why Mr X could not reasonably have complained sooner if he was unhappy with his new home, or with the circumstances that led to him moving there. It is also unlikely any investigation now would reach a clear enough view about what happened in the housing allocation process.

Mr X’s ‘right to buy’ his home

11. The Council says in 2023 Mr X applied to buy his new home from the Council but did not complete this. In November 2024 the terms on ‘right to buy’ discounts changed, meaning it would now cost Mr X more to buy his home. Mr X wants the Council to allow him to buy his home under the previous terms.
12. The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the ‘right to buy.’ (Housing Act 1985, section 181). Mr X can ask the court to decide if the Council should apply the previous terms to his application. The court can make a binding order. So, the restriction in paragraph 5 applies to this complaint. As the law expressly provides this route for resolving such disputes, we normally expect applicants to use it, with legal advice or representation 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 transaction for a valuable asset such as Mr X's home. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to use the right to go to court on this matter.

Housing register

13. Mr X also complained he did not have enough priority on the Council’s housing register. As he did not have a current application on the register when he complained to the Council, we are unlikely to find fault with the Council regarding this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The law prevents us investigating the Council’s management of its social housing. The complaint about what happened in 2023 is late without good reason to investigate it now and it is unlikely we would reach a clear enough view. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action on the ‘right to buy’ matter. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council regarding the housing register.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman