Birmingham City Council (25 020 887)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her Right to Buy. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to use her right to take court action.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council’s estimate of Major Works Costs meant her mortgage offer was rejected and she had to withdraw from buying her home. She says she has lost the opportunity to take advantage of the 50% discount and wants this reinstated.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- Miss X was buying her home as a leaseholder, so she would have been responsible for paying towards any work needed in the property. By law, the Council must provide an estimate of these costs for the buyer to consider. The Council said it made its estimate based on stock surveys.
- The law allows the county court to decide any dispute about the 'right to buy', including disputes about the lease. 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.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to take court action.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman