Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in processing Mr X’s Right to Buy application. It was reasonable for him to use the statutory Tenants Notice of Delay procedure which applies to all these conveyances.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council has delayed processing his Right to Buy (RTB) application to purchase his Council home. He says the delay has cost him additional money because his rent is higher than the mortgage payments would be. He wants the Council to compensate him for this.

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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 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 council property under the RTB scheme. He says the Council completed his valuation in October 2024 and should have issued his Section 125 offer by 25 November 2024. He says when he chased the matter in December 2024, staff told him there were still hundreds of applications ahead of him and gave no timescale. He complained the delay was costing him money and asked the Council to issue the offer promptly and compensate him.
7. The Council said a surge in RTB applications had created a significant backlog, and it was issuing S125 notices in date order. It told Mr X it cannot offer compensation because the statutory RTB6 Notice of Delay process is the only formal remedy.
8. The Right to Buy procedure allows tenants to serve delay notices on the Council when it exceeds statutory timescales. The Council has directed Mr X to use this process for the delays. If the Council does not reply within a month of the delay notice then Mr X can complete a ‘operative notice of delay’ form. Any rent Mr X pays while waiting for the Council’s response may be taken off the sale price.
9. If a Council still does not act on notices of delay, a tenant may take their dispute to the County Court, under section 181 of the Housing Act. This makes provision for an applicant to ask the Court to decide any issue/disputes arising during their application to purchase.
10. We will not investigate this complaint because Mr X could reasonably have sought redress through this procedure, which is specifically designed to address RTB delays.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint this is because it was reasonable for Mr X to use the statutory Tenants Notice of Delay procedure which applies to all these conveyances.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman