London Borough of Southwark (25 018 288)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Mar 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council rejecting his Right to Buy application. It would be reasonable for him to use the alternative court remedy.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council rejected his Right to Buy (RTB) application without properly notifying him further documents were required.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X submitted his RTB application using the Council’s online portal. The Council placed a message on the portal advising further documents were required and he had seven days to provide them, or the application would be rejected.
- Mr X says he was not notified there was a message on the portal and was unaware documents were missing until he later received a rejection letter. Mr X says the Council should have taken additional steps to request the missing documents instead of rejecting his application.
- The Council say Mr X was advised all communications would be through the portal and he should check the portal regularly.
- The law allows the county court to decide disputes about RTB, including disputes about refusals (Housing Act 1985, section 181). If Mr X believes he has grounds to challenge the Council’s rejection of his application, it would be reasonable to expect him to use this alternative court remedy.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. It would be reasonable for him to use the alternative court remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman