Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a ‘right to buy’ application. Miss X has an alternative legal remedy, and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to take court action.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council cancelled her application buy her council home on the grounds she did not send the required paperwork to progress the application in time. Miss X says this was due to the Council failing to give her the correct information about deadlines and how to send documents. Miss X says the Council’s decision has impacted her health and cost her a considerable sum financially. Miss X wants the Council to reinstate her application under the original terms.

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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 Miss X.
5. I 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 ‘right to buy.’ (Housing Act 1985, section 181). The central issue is whether a call Miss X made to the Council exactly 12 weeks after the Council sent its offer notice was enough to comply with her obligations. Miss X can ask the court to decide whether the Council was right to cancel her application and whether the Council should set it back to its previous state. The court can make a binding order.
7. 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 Miss X's home. And in any case, we could not direct the Council to accept Miss X’s application in the terms she seeks. If Miss X wishes, she can ask the court to make adjustments to meet any needs she has arising from health or disability. For these reasons, it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use the right to go to court.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has an alternative legal remedy and it reasonable to expect her to take court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman