Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council issuing a second, and significantly higher, property valuation during the Right to Buy process, even though the complainant had already accepted the first valuation. It is reasonable to expect the complainant to use the alternative court remedy.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her Right to Buy (RtB) application. In particular, she accepted the Council’s first valuation of her property, but says after long delays it issued a second valuation which was much higher. Ms X says the Council is wrongly relying on section 177 of the Housing Act 1985 to issue this second valuation, as it was a result of the Council’s own delays.

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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 Ms X and the Council, which included their complaint correspondence.
5. I also 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 RtB process (Housing Act 1985, section 181). Ms X can ask the court to decide if the Council was entitled to reply on section 177 to issue the second valuation. 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 a home. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Ms X to use her right to go to court.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman