Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions during the Right to Buy process. Mr X could have taken the matter to the County Court, which decides disputes about the Right to Buy. The other part of the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. Mr X says that when he applied for Right to Buy, the Council wrongly reinstated a debt previously written off. He says the Council required him to clear the balance before allowing the sale, which he did under protest. He also complained the Council used part of a housing benefit refund in 2018 towards the debt. Mr X says this breached the Housing Act 1985, lacked transparency, and caused financial loss and distress. He seeks a full refund, compensation for hardship, a formal apology, and policy changes to prevent similar cases.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X applied to buy his current home under the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme.
7. Near the end of the process, the RTB team told Mr X he owed the Council rent arrears from a former tenancy and said the RTB would not proceed unless he paid them.
8. The arrears related to a tenancy Mr X held with the Council over 10 years ago. The Council tried to recover the arrears at the time but later wrote off the debt due to lack of contact
9. Mr X said that when he applied for RTB his rent account was up to date and he believed he owed no money. He only learned about the alleged remaining arrears during the RTB process, when the Council told him he must clear the balance or the sale could not proceed.
10. Mr X paid the amount demanded but said he did so under protest.
11. He later complained that the Council wrongly reinstated the debt because it had previously written it off in 2016.
12. Mr X also found out that in 2018, the Council transferred a housing benefit refund to his former rent account, which reduced part of his arrears.
13. Mr X asked the Council to refund the payment he made during the RTB process, and the housing benefit refund it transferred in 2018.
14. The Council’s actions from 2018 happened too long ago for us to look at so we will not investigate this part of the complaint.
15. The Council did not uphold Mr X’s complaint. It said that the RTB team has authority to reinstate written-off debts.
16. Under Section 181 of the Housing Act 1985, the County Court may decide any dispute about the Right to Buy
17. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law on Right to Buy gives applicants the right to appeal to the court against any decision about the RTB process. It was reasonable for Mr X to use this right to dispute the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

18. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions during the Right to Buy process. Mr X could have taken the matter to the County Court, which decides disputes about the Right to Buy. The other part of the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman