Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Miss X’s mother’s Right to Buy application. This is because there is a legal route for her complaint and it would have been reasonable for Miss X to use it.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council cancelled her now late mother’s Right to Buy application in May 2024, without providing enough support.
2. Miss X would like to buy the property as she has now taken over the tenancy through succession. She would like the Council to reinstate her mother’s application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. 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)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Ms X made the Right to Buy application on her mother's behalf in 2024. The Council cancelled the application in May 2024 as it was not satisfied she had provided the documents it needed to support her application.
9. Under the Housing Act, applicants under the Right to Buy Scheme can apply to the County Court for issues which come up in an application. This includes disagreements about cancelled applications.
10. The law specifically makes this route for settling disputes like this, and it would be reasonable to expect Miss X to have used it.
11. Further, Miss X contacted this office in January 2026, so the complaint is also late for our purposes. I have not seen any reason to apply our discretion.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is a legal route available to her and it would have been reasonable for her to use it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman