Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s cancellation of her ‘right to buy’ application. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to take court action.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council cancelled her application to buy her home from the Council as she had not provided the necessary certified documents. She says the Council did not give her an opportunity to rectify the mistake. Miss X says she will lose the significant discount she was entitled to before the rules changed if she has to re-apply.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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

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

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My assessment

5. The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the 'right to buy', except for disputes about the valuation of property (the latter point is not relevant to this complaint). (Housing Act 1985, section 181).
6. As the law expressly provides this route for resolving such disputes, we normally expect people 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 with a transaction for an asset as valuable as Miss X's home. The court could also make a binding order if it saw fit, which the Ombudsman could not. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use the right to go to court.

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Final decision

7. 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