Summary: We have discontinued our investigation into Miss X’s complaint about the Right to Buy scheme. This is because, it would be reasonable to expect Miss X to use the right to go to court about this matter.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council wrongly cancelled her Right to Buy application because of rent arrears, despite agreeing a timeframe for her to pay these back. Miss X also says the Council delayed in responding to her complaints.
2. Miss X says this has caused her and her family significant distress. She says she has also missed out on a significant discount due to a change in government guidance that has since happened. .

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. 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)
5. 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

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

8. The Right to Buy scheme allows eligible secure council tenants to buy their home at a significant discount.
9. Section 181 Housing Act 1985 provides a right to buy applicant with the right to ask the County Court to determine any question arising under Part V of the Act (all the provisions relating to Right to Buy). 

What happened?

10. Miss X applied to buy her council property in 2025, using the Right to Buy scheme.
11. Miss X had rent arrears. The Council wrote to her to tell her that she must clear these rent arrears by mid-2025, or her application would be cancelled.
12. Miss X said she spoke to the Council on the telephone and agreed an extension to the date she needed to clear her rent arrears by, but despite this, the Council still cancelled her application.

Findings

13. 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 wrongly cancelled her application and any impact this may have had on any discount she was eligible for. The court can make a binding order.
14. 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 Miss X's home.
15. For these reasons, I am choosing not to investigate this complaint because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use the right to go to court on this matter. The court is better placed than us to reach a meaningful outcome.
16. Miss X also complained about the way the Council dealt with her complaint. I will not investigate this matter because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Decision

17. I have discontinued my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman