City of Wolverhampton Council (25 026 357)
Category : Housing > Council house sales and leaseholders
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 03 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council cancelled Ms X’s Right to Buy application. There is a legal route to deal with such disputes, and it is reasonable for Ms X to use it.
The complaint
- Ms X complains the Council unfairly cancelled her Right to Buy application.
- Ms X says the Council has denied her the opportunity to buy her home and not considered her additional needs. She would like the Council to reinstate her application.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X made a Right to Buy application to the Council. She says it went on to cancel her application without giving her a chance to provide the further information it said she had not included.
- S.181 of the Housing Act gives Right to Buy applicants a specific legal route to follow where there is a disagreement about the application.
- The County Court can consider if the Council has cancelled her application fairly and if it decides it has not, whether the Council should reinstate her application.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is an alternative legal route available to her which it would be reasonable for her to use.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman