Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council wrongly cancelled her ‘right to buy’ claim. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to take the Council to court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to tell her of a change in the ‘right to buy’ process, leading to the cancellation of her application. She also says the Council wrongly directed her to the Housing Ombudsman, causing delay. Miss X wants the Council to reinstate her previous application.

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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 Miss X 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). Miss X can ask the court to decide if the Council failed to tell her about a change to the ‘right to buy process’. The court can make a binding order. So, the restriction in paragraph 3 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 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 Miss X's home. Miss X described mental health problems and difficulty leaving her home. She could ask the court to make any reasonable adjustments she believes she needs during court action. The court is better placed than the Ombudsman to decide whether the Council was wrong to close Miss X’s ‘right to buy’ application.
7. Miss X is also unhappy with the Council’s communication and that the Council incorrectly suggested she complain to the Housing Ombudsman. However, it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaint handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to take court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman